I Am My Own Worst Enemy
by Izuna Otoshi
Summary: After the defeat of Trigon at the hands of Raven, there are still a few issues left at hand. Slade's still around, not to mention a particular thief...
1. Master Thief

Disclaimer: This is my first Teen Titans fic. I don't own Teen Titans, or any of the characters therein. They belong to their respective owners. I don't profit from writing this fic, it's strictly a labor of love, blah blah blah…

Author's Note: A bit of info on this fic's placement in the timeline. It begins sometime after the conclusion of Season 4 ("The End", pts.1-3). However, for story-related purposes, this fic assumes that after the Terra story arc which ends with "Aftershock pt.2", the episode "Haunted" occurred before anything else in Season 3.

I Am My Own Worst Enemy 

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Chapter 1: Master Thief

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Wayne Enterprises.

Some thieves might've considered it a motherlode of sorts, one of the tallest and most prominent skyscrapers in Jump City, stretching for what seemed like miles upward. Against the background of the night sky, you could see the giant neon sign from almost anywhere for miles out, despite all the lights from the surrounding offices in other buildings. And inside… one of the greatest collections of gadgets, high-end technology, electronics and other assorted valuables that simply couldn't be found anywhere else in the city. Not to mention all the cash… the place seemingly any thief's dream.

Red X was one such thief.

Of course, in accordance with the immense value of the contents of the giant building, Wayne Enterprises also boasted an equally immense security system, the integrity of which only matched by a small handful of other high-profile buildings. Simply put, the place had it all… and then some. Infrared laser tripwires, pressure, heat, and motion sensors, surveillance cameras placed on almost every wall, both human and robotic armed guards patrolling on the inside and outside perimeter, and more encrypted passcode locked doors and sectioned off pathways than you might think… seemingly any thief's nightmare.

But these things weren't problems for someone like Red X.

No, there was only one thing that'd ever given him much of a problem, but if he could get in, take what he wanted, and make his escape without a hitch, that one problem wouldn't even show up to attempt to apprehend him. In fact, if he could do it without setting off a single alarm, even one of the most subtle ones, they'd never even know what had happened.

Until the next day, of course. Although, in the past they always did have a bad habit of showing up anyway the majority of the time. And if the Titans decide to show up again… he'd just have to be that much more careful this time out.

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Red X stood slightly crouched on the rooftop of a building adjacent to Wayne Enterprises, his ragged black cape draped around his body, the pale moon high against his back. Reaching down to his utility belt, he grabbed a small pair of binoculars to scope out his prey.

The belt… Robin had pulled a fast one and swiped it back when they'd temporarily teamed up to take down Professor Chang and his henchmen, forcing Red X to make a hasty escape without it, wasting a precious capsule of Xenothium in the process. Of course, Robin's reasoning was that without the belt, Red X would effectively be crippled, and therefore unable to use any of his Xenothium-powered trickery. This would hopefully make Red X easier to take down whenever they had their next confrontation. But no worries, as Red X knew he could get it back easily. As simple as it was to get into Titans Tower the first time when he originally stole the suit, Red X had no qualms about becoming a repeat offender to break inside a second time to retrieve his belt. After all, he'd already had the Tower's defense system memorized. The only important thing was to make sure the Titans weren't home when he came knocking. They weren't. In fact, unless Robin checked the vault where the equipment was stored regularly, he'd be surprised if Robin actually knew the belt was gone again.

Back to the present, where Red X continued to scan the perimeter. "_Guards walking the outside,_" Red X thought to himself, "_They've all got guns, but I don't see any of the mechanized ones out here. They must keep them somewhere on the inside, closer to heart."_

Red X stood, readying his legs for his opening move. He felt the give as the rooftop's gravel shifted under his feet. After but a moment to steel himself, he launched forward into a full-on sprint, rapidly approaching the edge of the rooftop which would otherwise lead to a drop of several stories to the busy city streets below. Just as he reached the edge, he sprang from it with a powerful leap aided by compressed Xenothium gas which discharged from the soles of his feet, his cape flapping in the wind behind him as he traveled. Red X couldn't help but smirk under the mask as he sailed over the heads of unsuspecting guards. "_Too easy…"_

Upon reaching the apex of his leap, Red X readied his grappling hook, firing it to attach to the bricks of the building near a dark window about 3/4ths of the way up the building. The sharp edge of the grappling hook connected cleanly with but a tiny sound, inaudible to the guards patrolling so far beneath. Pulling the line taut, Red X swung the remainder of the way across, forming sticky Xs in his palms to cling to the wall once he reached it, the entire time being mindful to avoid the prying eyes of a few outdoor-mounted surveillance cameras. Climbing the wall for a few feet, Red X found another dark window he could break into. Forming a sharp X in one hand, he carved out a small opening which he then clambered into, carefully so as not to drop the cut glass and possibly alert the patrolmen below.

His feet on solid ground once again, Red X found himself in a large, open room, completely dark save for a few blinking green lights here and there. More cameras, no doubt. Bringing up a hand to touch the side of his mask, he activated Night Vision to confirm his suspicions. Another touch to the mask and he switched vision modes to infrared, checking for tripwires or any other security measures. There were none, save for the cameras.

Crouching low again to reduce noise, he skulked around toward the room's exit, avoiding the cameras' lines of sight while he went. He soon arrived at the doorway, peeking out through the looking glass before anything else. No guards, but infrared vision revealed several laser tripwires lining a hallway, along with more cameras mounted on the walls. Red X opened the door silently, and stealthily moved out into the hallway, hopping over and ducking under tripwires as he moved. A high jump to avoid both a set of tripwires and a camera, and Red X soon came to a locked metal door, protected by a passcode.

Too impatient to attempt cracking the code, Red X planted an X on the door's control panel, temporarily shorting out the circuits in the process. The panel blinked and flashed green, allowing him to open the door. Swiftly, he stepped into the next room, the door closing behind him. It was here that he saw an elevator. "_How convenient,_" Red X thought, "_this should take me right where I need to go._"

Not wanting to press the elevator call button for fear of alerting the security system, Red X simply walked up to the door and placed an X on it, which caused it to temporarily short out and open, revealing the elevator shaft. Not able to make use of the luxury of actually riding the elevator, Red X moved into the elevator shaft, using a combination of his grappling hook and sticky Xs on his palms to climb up several floors, until stopping at one door to place an X on it, opening it up.

"_I should be getting close…_"

Red X climbed into the hallway, given a brief moment to assess the security in place. Security was decidedly tighter this high up. More tripwires, blinking lights on the walls which had to be motion sensors, and he could hear faint footsteps farther down the hall, but they sounded light, which meant they were human. Red X moved down the hallway, dodging tripwires and avoiding cameras. Once he came to the motion sensors, Red X paused, deciding that teleportation was the easiest way to get past the sensors without accidentally setting off a tripwire or being seen by a camera. It required a lot of Xenothium to use, but it would be worth it.

Ready to proceed, Red X pressed a button on his utility belt which activated the teleportation mechanism. His form faded from the visible spectrum, reappearing near the corner farther down, where he pressed his back to the wall while planning his next move. Since he'd only teleported a short distance, maybe the Xenothium usage wasn't quite so bad. Regardless, he knew he had enough for this particular mission. Even if _they_ showed up…

Rolling out from the corner once the patrolling guard turned his back to continue walking his route, Red X silently trailed him, becoming aware that the guard was moving toward another, heavier set of laser tripwires lining the walls. Far too thick to simply dodge around as Red X had previously done, he'd need something else. As the guard neared the tripwires, they suddenly deactivated. Getting an idea, Red X deduced that the sensors wouldn't be a problem if he simply stuck close to the guard. Stealthily, Red X dashed to close the distance between the guard and himself, then slowed to walk just a footstep's length behind the guard. Sure enough, after getting a few steps away from the deactivated tripwires, they reactivated, and the next set began to deactivate. "_Genius…_" thought Red X, as he closely followed the unaware guard.

After they cleared the tripwires, the guard and his unnoticed companion next came to another set of motion sensors. These did not deactivate, however Red X noticed the normally blinking green light turn solid when the guard entered their vicinity. After seeing this, Red X figured that the sensors are probably set to respond, like the tripwires, to some kind of tech on the guard's uniform. Reacting quickly, Red X synchronized his walking pace perfectly with the guard's, remaining just behind him. After they passed the sensors, they returned to their normal state of blinking green.

As the two neared the end of the hallway, Red X began to suspect that the guard would be turning around soon to retrace his steps. Looking forward, Red X noticed a pressure sensor on the floor. The guard stepped on it, then stopped. Without another moment's hesitation, Red X leapt straight up, forming sticky Xs in his palms again to stick to the ceiling. While there, Red X determined that the pressure sensor was likely the point where the guard is meant to stop, turn, and then return down the hallway. As if to confirm Red X's thinking, the guard did in fact turn around, and begin to move back down the hallway, completely unaware of the thief just above his head. Once the guard was a safe distance away, Red X dropped back to the floor, landing silently. "_Thanks, pal…"_ Red X thought, expressing gratitude for the unaware assistance the guard had given him. Red X then continued onward, hopping over the pressure sensor plate on the floor to reach another locked door. Treating it in a similar manner to the earlier locked door, Red X soon found himself in a vault area.

"It's gotta be here…" 

The room temperature was a bit cooler. Farther into the vault, Red X saw robotic guards, much larger than the human ones, and also given bigger guns. They stood motionless, seemingly standing guard over a small glass-covered pedestal between them. The pedestal housed a small cylindrical object…the object of Red X's desires. Red X also saw heat sensors on the walls, another hindrance he'd need to deal with before all was said and done. Formulating a plan of action, Red X tapped the side of his mask again to get a scan of the room.

"_55 degrees Fahrenheit. I can handle that, no problem._"

Red X reached into his utility belt, retrieving a small handheld can. He sprayed a thin film of cold Xenothium gas over his entire body, which lowered his external temperature to match that of the room's. Stepping into the room, he also activated an invisibility cloaking device to hide himself more fully from the robots. Finally ready, Red X dashed into the room, sprinting toward the robots, aware that he only had a short time before his external temperature would begin to rise again. Getting behind the robots, Red X deftly placed an X on the back of each one, which deactivated them. The robotic guards then slumped forward slightly, the lights on them slowly fading off to signify that they were no longer a threat. With seemingly nothing left to stand in his way, Red X moved toward his prize. Reaching the pedestal he'd sought the entire time, his hands eagerly reached out for it… and suddenly he felt the heat of an explosion behind him, back at the entrance to the vault. He crouched slightly on reflex, turning back to see what had happened while raising an arm to shield his face from dust and flying debris.

"**Hold it right there, Red X!**" came an all-too-familiar voice. In the resulting cloud of dust near the door, Red X could make out 5 silhouettes. They _did_ decide to show up.

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Author's Note: Holy where-the-heck-did-they-come-from, Batman? The Titans have appeared to stop Red X in his tracks! But what is this object that Red X is trying to steal? What significance does it hold? Will Cyborg say "Booyah"? All these questions and more will be addressed in due time. Next chapter will feature some good ol' Teen Titans vs. Red X ACTION! Stay tuned!


	2. Rushdown

Author's Note: Just one thing I wanted to say before continuing. I wanna send out a thank you to Fireangel722 for adding my story to your Favorite Stories list, even in this early stage of story development. This chapter's dedicated to you, thanks for showing some form of support.

Anyway, enough of that, on with the show!

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Chapter 2: Rushdown

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The vault door was blown from its hinges as the Teen Titans stood in the doorway, blocking off Red X's exfiltration. Leaving the object secure on its pedestal for now, Red X turned to face them, folding his arms as he took on an arrogant pose. As he stood waiting for one of them to move, his mind couldn't help but ponder where in his infiltration attempt he'd made an error that resulted in alerting the Titans. He could think of none.

"Hey kids," Red X began, tilting his head slightly to the side. "Isn't it way past your bedtime?"

The leader of the Teen Titans stepped forward menacingly, already beginning to seethe with anger. "No more games, X!" he shouted, shaking his fist at the thief.

"Game? Who said anything about a game?" Red X asked, maintaining his nonchalant air. "I'm here on business. Speaking of which, it amazes me that you even knew I was here in the first place."

"You might wanna take a closer look at this doorway we're standin' in," Cyborg said, a hint of arrogance in his voice, too. Red X eyed him for a moment, then looked about the entrance to the vault, still not breaking his pose. He could see nothing. He then brought up a hand to touch his mask, activating Infrared Vision. It was then that he saw a vertical barrier of laser tripwires, placed right in the doorway where the Titans were standing. "_Damn…_" he thought to himself, realizing that he must've gotten careless after knowing that his goal was in sight. The few moments it took for him to cross the giant room and deactivate the sentries was all the time it took for the Titans to appear.

"You're going to jail this time. **Titans, GO!**" Robin yelled, the familiar call setting the team into motion once again. All five emerged from the dark cloud, Starfire and Raven drawing out curled wisps of smoke that trailed them momentarily as they closed in on Red X. Robin, metallic bo staff in hand, led the ground force consisting of Cyborg and an as-of-yet untransformed Beast Boy.

"The gang's all here…" Red X said sarcastically as he pointed his palms toward the aggressors, firing of a volley of explosive Xs. As the projectiles neared the Titans at the center of the massive vault, Raven threw up a protective wall of dark energy, causing the explosives to detonate harmlessly before them. Wanting to waste no time in apprehending Red X, Robin vaulted over the shield, emerging from the top of the second cloud of smoke with a fierce battlecry, his upper body twisted and ready to strike down upon Red X with pure fury. Red X backflipped over the pedestal, dodging Robin's staff which crashed into it, smashing most of the glass therein and almost destroying the small object it held.

"Careful where you swing that, kid." Red X said coolly, landing a short distance behind the pedestal and firing a few shuriken Xs Robin's way. Robin hopped over the pedestal, deflecting the Xs with his staff while he charged Red X again.

"How'd you get the belt back?" Robin yelled angrily. "I locked it away myself!"

"Just like you locked away the suit way back when?" Red X said calmly, dodging an angry swing of Robin's staff aimed for his face. "You thought your little 'security system' would be enough to stop me? Don't be dense. I'm a _thief_, remember?"

Red X threw out a swift jab aimed at Robin's jaw, which Robin ducked under. Cyborg grit his teeth as he overheard their conversation, trying to aim his Sonic Cannon at Red X.

"Raggin' on _my_ systems…? I don't think so…"

Beast Boy slowed to a halt beside Cyborg, mouth agape. "Dude… X broke in, stole back his belt, _and_ got away without any of us knowing? Sheesh…it's like he knows the whole Tower inside-out!"

"_If only you knew…_" Red X thought to himself, amused by entertaining such a thought. Cyborg fired the Cannon, but Red X knew the blast was coming, and sidestepped to avoid it, the blast continuing on to crack into a fortified wall.

The thief deftly dodged a few more swipes from Robin's staff, finally parrying an overhead attack by forming X shaped wrist blades and using them to cross-lock the bo staff. Red X knew he couldn't hold this position for long because the others were already closing in.

"You just don't know when to quit, do you?" Robin questioned during the deadlock, his eyes staring straight into Red X's.

"Something we have in common," came Red X's reply as he broke the lock by flinging his arms upward, forcing Robin off-balance for a brief moment. Red X then rolled between Robin's legs, emerging behind him to fire off a sticky X which clung to Robin's heel. As Robin attempted to turn around and give chase, the sticky X which melded one foot to the cold, metallic floor forced him to the floor as well, Red X watching Robin's misfortune with some degree of amusement.

A few small explosions at Red X's feet caused him to hop away, though, as Starfire swooped in with a flurry of Starbolts. Eyes and hands glowing bright green with energy, Starfire flew low to the ground, attempting to slam right into Red X. Just before she would've made contact, Red X hopped up, leapfrogging over her. She couldn't help but glance back as she passed him, but went wide-eyed after looking forward again when unfortunately for her, she flew directly into the wall she intended to slam Red X against while distracted. After colliding, Starfire's eyes and hands returned to normal, and she lay on the ground in a slight daze for a few moments. She placed a hand on her forehead as she shook her head, trying to clear her vision.

In the meantime, Cyborg had been charging his Sonic Cannon for a second shot, and since Red X's leap over Starfire brought him in Cyborg's direction, Cyborg fired on the still-airborne Red X. Red X weaved in mid-air at the last instant to barely dodge the blast, turning in air again as his momentum brought him close to Cyborg. Red X lashed out with a roundhouse kick, which Cyborg blocked by bringing up his other arm to defend. With Red X's foot still in firm contact with his arm, Cyborg threw the arm sideways, launching Red X straight into the waiting arms of gorilla Beast Boy. In a last ditch attempt at retaliation, Red X fired two Xs charged with EMP pulses back at Cyborg, hoping to short out his circuits for at least a little while. The Xs connected right in front of Cyborg's central processing unit, but after a few brief seconds of electrical sparks flying from them, the EMP Xs disengaged, clattering harmlessly to the floor at his feet, where Cyborg promptly stepped on them.

"Sorry man," Cyborg began, "…but I've upgraded. Those won't work on me anymore."

"Tch…" Red X grumbled softly, now trapped in Beast Boy's powerful arms. Beast Boy growled ferociously, attempting to squeeze the consciousness from Red X's body.

"Nice grip you got there," Red X said, struggling to free himself from the green giant's grasp.

"Hold still…" Cyborg said tensely, taking another couple moments to charge the Cannon. A beeping sound rang out from the display on his arm, and Cyborg fired, a pulse of blue energy accompanied by spiraling white sparks. Still unable to free himself from Beast Boy's grip, Red X braced for impact. Just before the blast reached the two of them, Beast Boy released his grip, transforming into a tiny mouse in order to avoid the attack. Red X was unable to defend, and Cyborg's energy blast connected cleanly with Red X's chest, the thief being sent sprawling several feet backward. Upon impact with the floor, Red X rolled over a few times, finally coming to rest in a heap. Beast Boy detransformed, a giant grin on his face as Cyborg walked toward him, the robotic man bearing a smirk of his own.

"Booyah." Cyborg said as the two best friends tapped fists. Then, without warning, both Cyborg and Beast Boy felt pressure on the tops of their heads, feeling as though they would soon be pressed through their necks.

"Booyah yourself." Said Red X, poised in a handstand above the two of them, his hands on their heads for support. While they weren't looking, he'd activated the teleportation mechanism, hurling himself from the floor right back into the fight. Of course, Red X had to compensate a bit for their difference in height, but he rammed Cyborg's head downward, while pushing Beast Boy's into it. In the resulting headbutt, Red X flipped away as the two Titans fell to the floor, both suddenly experiencing splitting headaches, though perhaps Beast Boy moreso than Cyborg.

After landing, Red X shot a quick glance off to his side, where Raven floated menacingly his way, her eyes glowing white.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zi-- "

"We'll have none of that," Red X interrupted, halting Raven's familiar chant with a sticky X which affixed itself to her mouth. Red X placed his hands on his hips for a moment, taking a brief rest to enjoy it, which elicited muffled "mmphs" of protest from Raven as her eyes returned to normal. She shot up both hands to her mouth, attempting to pull the X from it. The X glowed black, signifying that Raven was putting quite a deal of effort into removing it.

"Can't mess with what works, eh Raven?" Red X jokingly asked, referring to his sticky X being an effective means of silencing her on more than one occasion, thereby limiting her ability to focus her powers. Red X's respite was cut short, however, as he heard the Boy Wonder yelling out yet another battlecry as he rushed toward the thief again, finally free of his bond. He swung the bo staff with rage, Red X taking a few steps back to avoid the danger.

Robin continued to press forward, using the staff for leverage as he planted it into the floor, swinging around it to deliver a spinning kick which connected with the side of Red X's face. Red X stumbled back a few steps, jolted by the sudden force of the kick, but was hit again as Robin pulled the staff from the floor, jabbing the end of it into Red X's stomach. Red X fell back, landing in a sitting position. To stop Robin's rush, Red X swiftly swung his legs around while holding his body up with his arms, tripping up Robin's advance. As Robin fell, Red X fired an explosive X at point-blank range which propelled Robin backward until he collided with a wall.

Given a moment's rest from Robin's onslaught, Red X looked about himself to get his bearings. The object was still in its place on the pedestal, and no one was near it at that particular moment. If he could just…

"C'mon Raven! Get angry!" Cyborg shouted, attempting to rally his teammate into action, who at the moment was still wrestling with the sticky X on her mouth. Beast Boy chimed in, a look of concern on his face. "Yeah, we gotta stop this guy, and we _need_ your help!"

Try as she might, Raven found it odd how her Anger, generally her most prominent emotion, seemed so…weak, so…_faint_. But _why?_ As a result, she was having more trouble than usual getting Red X's trap off her mouth. "_I…I can't…"_ Raven thought, as Cyborg and Beast Boy moved toward her to offer assistance.

Red X stood, preparing to sprint toward his goal. However, before he could get very far, an immense force, a fierce grip taking hold at both his neck and upper arm, overtook him. With a furious yell, the Tamaranian girl rammed into him, lifting him from his feet as he was carried sideways at high-speed for a distance before his back was slammed into a wall, complete with a thunderous boom.

"Looks like she's got the whole anger thing down…" Beast Boy said nervously as he glanced momentarily in the direction of Starfire and Red X.

The impact caused quite a considerable crack in the wall, and Red X couldn't help but groan slightly at the throbbing pain at his back, not to mention the vice-like pressure applied to his neck and arm. Pinned to the wall, Red X was forced to stare directly into Starfire's enraged bright green eyes as she stood firm, lifting him a few more inches from the ground. Her teeth were clenched, however, a moment later her eyes returned to normal as her expression softened.

"Please…" she began. "Why do you continue in such a manner? We do not wish to fight, and if you will simply-- "

"Can't do that." Red X interjected, squirming slightly in her powerful Tamaranian grasp. "However, even though I always knew you had a thing for me, I had no idea our date would be so s-- "

Starfire's facial expression changed as Red X spoke, going from compassionate to furious again as he taunted her. Starfire wasn't the only one to get angry as Robin also overheard Red X's remarks from across the room, the Boy Wonder quickly becoming irate as he moved toward the group. In a rage, Starfire released his arm, still maintaining her firm grip on his neck as she charged her free hand with Starbolt energy, preparing to slam it into Red X's face. However, Red X's plan to distract Starfire worked, freeing up his arms so that he could fire two Xs into her face instead. Taken completely by surprise, Starfire released Red X entirely as the Xs turned to red goo and splattered over her eyes. Red X landed in a crouch and sprinted away from her as she endeavored to remove the goo from her face.

"Heh heh….I guess you should've tried the eye lasers…" Beast Boy said timidly, scratching at the back of his hair while maintaining a friendly smile and a chuckle, lest Starfire turn her sudden rage in his direction. Instead however, she decided to take his advice, pointing her gaze toward the floor in front of her before firing her eye lasers, an action which helped clear away some of the goo and thereby return her vision to some degree, at least until the rest of the goo was removed.

Running full-tilt toward the pedestal, Red X dodged a few mirco-missiles fired from Cyborg's chest. Robin dove on the thief, but Red X treated Robin in a similar manner to the earlier charging Starfire, effortlessly hopping over him while pressing the Boy Wonder to the floor. Nearly reaching his objective, Red X dove on the pedestal, grabbing the small black object. He landed in a roll, finally stopping in a crouch a few feet behind the pedestal, the object in hand.

"_Finally got it,_" Red X thought to himself, "_And now I just need to make myself scarce…"_

"Azarath, Metrion, **ZINTHOS!**"

Red X went wide-eyed, and slowly turned his head back to see the two deactivated mech sentries glowing with dark energy, hurtling through the air right at him. Forming a human-sized X with one hand, he held on to it to shield himself from the incoming robots while tightly clutching his precious cargo in the other hand. The large robots crashed into the shield, causing a huge explosion. Despite the limited protection of the quickly formed makeshift shield, Red X still felt the collision in some capacity, and was sent flying back quite a distance, landing across the room from the Titans. With a sense of urgency, Red X quickly stood, shaking off the pain from the force of impact, while looking for a quick escape route. He soon found it, an air vent nearby on the wall.

"Well kids, it's been fun…" Red X turned and taunted the Titans, "…but I really should get going."

Without another word, he reached for his belt, activating the Invisibility Cloak.

"**NO!**" Robin shouted, sprinting forth to try one last time to stop the thief. Robin launched himself at the exact spot where Red X had been standing just a few moments earlier, but found himself only crashing to the floor empty-handed.

"Heh. Don't worry Robin…" said Cyborg as he activated his own Infrared Vision, "…he can't hide from me."

Sure enough, Cyborg could clearly see Red X's red body against the cold blues and purples of the metallic walls as the thief stood just inches from where Robin thought he would still be. Red X turned slightly, preparing to fire an explosive X at the vent.

"He's going for that vent!" Cyborg exclaimed, aiming his Sonic Cannon at the vent. A moment later, a small explosion blew the vent cover away. Red X then dashed for it, hopping into the small opening and moving through the path as quickly as he could. Cyborg fired on the vent, while Robin flung a couple small bombs of his own at it, but these had no real effect, as Red X was already on his way out.

"Quick! We need a way to the roof!" shouted Robin, flinging more bombs toward the roof. Cyborg shifted his aim to follow his leader's orders, blasting the roof at the same point where Robin's bombs connected. Likewise, Starfire fired a flurry of Starbolts and Raven fired blasts of dark energy, all efforts concentrated on a small square of space on the roof.

"I'll follow X through the vents…" said Beast Boy, "…he won't get away!" dashing for the vent, Beast Boy leapt into it, transforming into a chimpanzee as he climbed in and began his pursuit.

A minute later, Red X emerged from the smoky vent, out onto the roof of Wayne Enterprises. He stepped out, preparing to leap to one of the rooftops below. However, he felt a small smack at the back of his head as chimp Beast Boy latched on tight, clasping his arms around Red X's face to blind him. Red X stumbled about for a few moments, trying to pull the green chimp loose and get away. As he finally managed to do so, he threw Beast Boy away from him, who then transformed into a sparrow and swooped around the neon sign. Finally free, Red X sprinted once more for the edge of the roof. At the same time, there was an explosion in the rooftop, just a few feet between him and escape. Red X hopped back as the other four Teen Titans emerged from the hole, Raven carrying Robin and Starfire carrying the heavier Cyborg. The boys were gently let down as sparrow Beast Boy finally came around, detransforming to land next to his team, striking a pose.

"Face it dude…" said Beast Boy, "…you_ can't _get away from the Teen Titans that easily!"

"_Oh really…?"_ thought Red X. "_We'll just have to see about that…_"

Without warning, Red X turned to fire a volley of explosive and EMP Xs at the giant "W" of Wayne Enterprises' neon sign. Robin was the first to realize what Red X was planning to do, and he alone lunged forward, attempting yet again to stop the thief. However, his reaction came too little, too late as Red X's projectiles made contact with the sign. It flashed a brilliant white, illuminating the entire rooftop and surrounding area. The flash temporarily blinded all five Titans as Red X spotted a nearby rooftop he could escape by. He activated teleportation once more just as Robin's blindly outreaching hands barely made contact with him, Red X in effect slipping right through Robin's fingers. The giant W began to creak and groan terribly, all the neon tubing inside busted. It leaned over, and the bonds that held it to the rest of the sign began to break just as Beast Boy was beginning to regain his vision.

"Look out! It's gonna fall!"

The Titans just barely escaped the collapsing letter as it smashed into the rooftop, Beast Boy pushing Starfire and the grounded Robin out of the way as Cyborg and Raven moved of their own volition. With a monstrous boom, the fallen letter threw up volumes of dust and debris. Robin yelled aloud in a rage after realizing what had just happened…Red X had escaped them yet again.

"**Dammit! **We were so _**close**!"_ Robin yelled while smashing his fists to the floor, seemingly on the verge of hysteria.

"Robin…" Starfire ventured cautiously while placing a dainty hand on his shoulder, "Please…you must…calm down…"

"But Star…" came Robin's protest, the Boy Wonder still reluctant to return her gaze as he continued to stare down at his fists. "…We _had _him…"

"Do not worry…" Starfire continued, her eyes pleading with him. "…All is not lost! Surely we can still apprehend the Red X."

Robin finally looked up at her, and couldn't help but feel the anger which had swelled up so fiercely in him only moments earlier begin to dissipate. A moment later, he even began to smile at her. It seemed Starfire just had that effect on people…but especially on Robin. "Yeah…I guess you're right. You've always been right."

Starfire happily returned his smile as Raven stepped silently toward the rooftop's edge. She gazed out on Jump City's skyline as her long blue cloak was blown about by the cold winds of the night. Not a trace of Red X in sight. Several thoughts raced through her head. Her father, Red X, Slade, among other things…and she just couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about her own psyche.

"Heh…" said Beast Boy confidently, flexing a small bicep. "…we'll get our rematch. And when we do, X'll be sorry!"

Raven looked back at the always optimistic Beast Boy, wondering where all that confidence kept coming from, even in defeat.

"I just wonder about his motives…"

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Author's Note: Alright! With Chapter 2 out of the way, the Titans begin to contemplate things. Why was Red X stealing from Wayne Enterprises? What was that little black object, anyway? What will Robin do next? And what of Raven's emotional troubles…?


	3. Interrupted

Author's Note: Nice to see I've garnered a bit of interest out there. I promise to do everything I can to keep things interesting for my readers. Shout outs:

**AnimationWickedRaven:** Thanks! Updates on the way!

**RavenOnline:** You're too kind. Hope this chapter will also be to your liking.

**SecondLevelWriter**: Thanks for your comments. Don't worry, you'll be seeing more soon!

**Siberian-Tigress:** Why thank you so much. I do try, after all.

**Pixel:** Thanks Pixie-chan! I've been told that I'm at my best when I'm doing battle scenes (even by you a couple times now, hehe)

Random person in the audience: Man, that guy writes a good fight scene!

As for the RobStar bits, I might decide to do a little something for the legions of RobStar fans sooner or later…we'll have to see.

Thanks for the reviews, Chapter 3's for you guys!

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Chapter 3: Interrupted

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The trip back to Titans Tower had been rather uneventful, Raven recalled. However, maybe that hadn't been too bad, as it had given her a bit more time to think on things…Beast Boy couldn't talk while in the form of a falcon, except for this annoying habit he had of screeching _way_ too close to her ear, as far as she was concerned. She tried her best to ignore him, though, as the team finally crossed the bay to make their way back into the Tower.

"We are home!" Starfire said enthusiastically, smiling bright and throwing her arms up in joy. The other Titans decidedly ignored her save for Robin, who offered an acknowledging nod before turning to head toward the main room. Before everyone went off in his or her own direction, however, Robin cleared his throat, signifying that he had something he wanted to say.

"Combat Training starts at 8:00 a.m. sharp."

Beast Boy groaned, his eyes drooping to show his discontent. "_More_ training…? We just did Combat Training the other day! And besides, it's really late. I need sleep!"

Robin said nothing, as Beast Boy looked from the Boy Wonder, to Starfire, to Cyborg, and finally to Raven, looking for some kind of support in his claims. Starfire seemed content to start training again in only a couple hours time, and Cyborg simply shook his head slowly, trying to send the message that Beast Boy should just drop it. Raven ignored Beast Boy entirely.

"…Deal with it." was all Robin said before he went off into a dark hallway. After encountering Red X again, Robin was still in a serious state of mind, and everyone already knew what it was like once Robin started behaving in this way.

Raven had decided that she'd already heard enough, and floated off toward her room without a word to anyone. _"Maybe things will seem a bit clearer after I get some sleep…" _she thought as she shut her door behind her.

Back in the main room, Cyborg yawned loudly, turning to head towards a security panel.

"You heard the man. Best to just get the few hours in you can…" Cyborg said as he placed his open palm on the panel. It lit up as a computerized voice announced throughout the Tower that the security system had been activated. "Well, I'm going to bed. Night, y'all." He moved into the doorway next to the panel, walking into the hallway leading to his room as the door slid shut behind him.

As Cyborg left, Starfire turned to Beast Boy, smiling gently and gesturing with her hands. "Perhaps Friend Cyborg is right…" she said, looking over at Silkie, her pet worm who was already fast asleep on the top of the couch. "Let us return to our rooms and rest, so that we may be well-prepared to train in the morning. If it is any consolation, I shall take it upon myself to prepare a breakfast feast worthy of the Ruler of Tamaran!"

"Sounds great, Star…" Beast Boy said half-heartedly, wondering if he could even stomach the thought of enduring an entire training session after eating some of Starfire's cooking. "…maybe I'll help with the cooking..." He said with a half-smile.

"That would be most wonderful!" Starfire replied happily, clasping her hands together in front of her chest.

"Alright then. Night, Star." With that, Beast Boy turned, heading off toward his own room as Starfire did likewise.

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A few hours later, Beast Boy awoke to the sound of someone knocking at his door. He rolled over groggily in bed to glance at his alarm clock. 7 a.m. He groaned, burying his head under his pillow.

"_Just a few more minutes…"_

The knocking paused momentarily, but it wasn't long before it resumed, even louder than before. Beast Boy sighed, knowing that he wasn't going to get those few more minutes anytime soon. He rolled off the bed, landing on the floor below with a firm "thump" sound. The knocking hesitated again after the sound of him hitting the floor, but once again it continued, louder still, Beast Boy beginning to wonder if the Tamaranian was going to knock his door down trying to wake him up. He hustled over to the door and opened it. It slid open, revealing Starfire's giant smile which beamed down on him.

"Good Morning, friend! I trust you slept well? Come, we must begin preparing the breakfast foods." Before Beast Boy could get in a word edgewise, Starfire had already grabbed him by the arm, leading him toward the kitchen area. Having trouble keeping up with Starfire's pace, Beast Boy nearly tripped over his own feet once or twice before reaching the kitchen.

Once there, Starfire began floating this way and that, grabbing pots and pans of all sizes, along with various ingredients from the fridge and drawers. While she did so, Beast Boy moved toward the sink, splashing some water on his face and hands to prepare himself for the task ahead.

----------

Raven was still asleep, tossing and turning in her bed, seemingly the victim of a nightmare.

8888888888

She found herself standing alone in pitch blackness, unable to see anything around her. She took a few steps in an arbitrary direction, but to no avail, as nothing changed about her surroundings.

Thinking she'd heard a soft noise behind her, Raven turned to glance over her shoulder. Again, she saw nothing. But as she turned her gaze forward again, she suddenly saw two pairs of enormous red eyes, staring into her from the darkness. She trembled slightly, her eyes growing wide as she took a step back.

"_You…no…I destroyed you!" Raven shouted, to which the four red eyes narrowed._

"_**You think that was the end of me? Pathetic!**" As the deep, disembodied voice seeming to come from the red eyes themselves spoke, a violent wind also emerged from them, crashing through Raven. She threw up both arms to shield her face, the wind bordering on painful as it whipped across her, blowing at her cloak wildly. As Raven struggled to remain standing, the eyes spoke to her again."**You may have erased me from your realm, but I'm not done with you yet, my daughter.**"_

"_No… you're gone…you can't torture me, Arella, my friends, or anyone else anymore!" Raven yelled, holding her ground as she fought off the winds._

_The voice of Trigon only uttered a sinister laugh as the winds grew even fiercer, completely enveloping Raven's body. The force applied to Raven multiplied exponentially as Raven screamed, her eyes glowing white._

"_NOOOOO!"_

8888888888

In a flash of white, Raven found herself sitting up in bed, breathing heavily, eyes panicked. The rays of early sunlight cascaded down through her window, bathing her in glorious light. Quickly, she placed a hand to her forehead, then checked her arms, legs, and torso. There were no markings. She sighed, slowly rising from the bed. Trigon was still gone. He wouldn't be back. "_It was all just a bad dream…and nothing more." _She thought as she left her room.

----------

Raven finally emerged from the hallway into the main room, the last person to wake. As she entered the room, she saw everyone else already seated, scarfing down plates of food like nobody's business. Especially Starfire, who was practically drowning all her food in mustard from her economy-sized personal bottle before savagely devouring it. Raven floated over to the counter, opting instead for a warm cup of tea.

"Morning, Raven," Robin said, curtly nodding in her direction. She acknowledged his greeting with a slight nod of her own.

"How you feeling?" asked Cyborg. She shrugged. "Just fine…I guess." came her reply.

Just as she was preparing to make some tea, she was surprised to see it already steaming in the kettle on the stovetop. Beast Boy turned and smiled at her.

"I know how much you like your tea, so I decided to make you some." He said before getting back to spooning large heapings of tofu into his mouth. Raven glanced at him for a moment, allowing the tips of her mouth to curve upward ever-so-slightly. "Thanks…"

Raven found a seat, and tentatively took a sip of her tea, cautious because after all, _Beast Boy_ had made it. She winced on pure reflex as the reddish brown liquid touched her lips, prepared to spit it out if necessary…Amazingly, it actually tasted pretty _good_…a tad bit sweeter than Raven was accustomed to, but still bearable nonetheless. "_I guess he isn't so bad…sometimes."_

"…So as I was saying, I did some research," Cyborg said between forkfuls of the REAL eggs he'd specifically requested Starfire to make after learning that Beast Boy would be helping make breakfast. "…ran a few searches through some databases…and it turns out, that thing Red X stole from Wayne Enterprises was some kind of physical enhancer. It's a prototype, not really in production yet. The details I uncovered are sketchy at best, but that little black thing is capable of a _lot_ of destruction in the wrong hands."

"His hands _are_ the wrong hands…" Robin said, no longer hungry as he leaned forward and rested his chin on his knuckles, elbows on the counter. Brooding over the sudden topic of Red X, his eyes narrowed as he stared off into the wall.

"We'll catch him, Robin…" came a sudden reply from Raven, the girl a little surprised at herself for speaking up out-of-turn. Maybe it was the sugar in the tea. Or maybe something else…

"I don't know what he's up to, but I won't let him go through with it," Robin said, not moving from his pose.

"…And neither will we." Starfire pitched in, glancing reassuringly in Robin's direction.

"I **_will_** stop him." Robin said, hints of anger beginning to seep through his voice.

He was glad he still had the support of his team, but Robin still found anger and utter frustration bubbling up inside him whenever he thought of Red X. It had gotten to the point several times now where Robin would simply wish he'd never created the suit in the first place… never came up with the idea of disguising himself from both his enemies and his friends in order to get closer to Slade. That one mistake had haunted Robin for far too long now, and it would be an understatement to say he was quickly growing tired of it.

It was bad enough when Robin had reached the point where he was even desperate enough to agree to become Slade's apprentice… he'd hated himself for quite a while after that. He knew that no matter what horrible thing could possibly happen after that, he'd never forget the look Starfire had on her face when he confronted her and the other Titans on the roof of Wayne Enterprises so long ago… Starfire had seemed so distant, so sad… but her words to him on that terrible night were especially poignant.

"_Robin, you are my best friend, and I cannot live in a world where we must fight. If you are truly evil, then do as you must."_

Her words had struck a tender chord, resonating deep within his soul, his spirit, and his heart. She would've willingly given up her life rather than be forced to become his mortal enemy. With every fiber of his being, Robin objected to such a painful thought, no matter what Slade threatened to do to him, or anyone else.

Robin promised himself and his team that he'd never turn against them again. But not only that, he also promised Starfire… a vow he never intended to break, which brought him back to Red X… before Slade had even approached him about becoming an apprentice, Robin used the suit because he didn't trust his team enough to trust him. After finally realizing his mistake, he'd locked the suit away, hoping it would never bother him again…but he was wrong.

It simply perplexed Robin to no end when he ran the numbers through his head, trying desperately to figure out how anyone could be skilled enough to sneak inside the Tower and swipe the suit. Not to mention the recent return trip for the belt. It was as if Red X's entire existence was merely to taunt Robin…The only person he could be any angrier at was Slade himself…

"Umm…Robin?" Starfire said cautiously, tapping Robin on the shoulder from behind. "It is 8:15, everyone else is in the training area outside already, and you still have not moved yet." Indeed, Robin had still been sitting at the counter brooding, oblivious to everything around him. Suddenly broken off from his trance, Robin stood, turning to glance at Starfire.

"Right…let's get to work." he said simply before heading for the training area. Starfire nodded, floating a few steps behind him.

"Are you…alright?" Starfire asked as she followed him, her eyebrows slightly furrowed. She couldn't help but worry about him whenever he got like this.

"I'm fine, Star." Robin replied, glancing back with a smile as he walked, trying his best to ease her concerns.

"You are…certain?" she inquired, still not quite convinced. To this, he simply nodded.

"Never better." Robin said as he opened the door leading to the training area. The two of them emerged from the Tower, onto a rocky cliff face which eventually dropped off into an open plain where Cyborg, Raven, and Beast Boy were standing.

"Dude, where were you, in the toilet or something?" Beast Boy asked while pointing an accusing finger at Robin, a question at which Cyborg couldn't help but chuckle, at least a little bit. Starfire found the question a little odd, furrowing her brow yet again as she pondered how it could be possible to fit someone in a toilet bowl. Raven simply sighed, placing a hand on her forehead.

"I was thinking about things," Robin said as he pressed a few buttons and flipped some switches on the training area's central control unit, located near the door he'd just emerged from. "Red X…Slade…things."

A few moments later, several metal walls sprang up from the ground, along with some armed droids.

"_Man, Robin…_" Beast Boy thought, arms folded. "_Obsessive much…?_"

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Author's Note: That Robin can get obsessive at times, though, ne? He just won't stop until he puts all the criminals away. As for Raven, surely her nightmare is over, right? She _did_ beat Trigon, after all. In spite of that, she can still sense something strange…but what? Next chapter, the Titans spend some time working on combat maneuvers, but as they say, a hero's work is never done…


	4. To the Limit

Author's Note: Thanks to those who've reviewed Chapter 3. Shout outs:

**Pixel:** Heh, I thought so too. Well, Chap 4 is chock full of MORE ACTION! lol

AnimationWickedRaven: Thanks! As promised, updates are coming! Sycogerl64: My thoughts exactly, lol… well, the hits I've been getting seem to tell a slightly different story… if only those people would drop a review or two to let me know how _they_ think the story is going… 

I appreciate you guys' responses, and your opinions mean a lot to me. This also goes for anyone else who is considerate enough to take a couple minutes out of his or her precious time to write a review.

On with the story.

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Chapter 4: To the Limit

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The morning sun shone down on Jump City, the pristine rays of light glinting and reflecting off of the many windows of Titans Tower. Just outside the Tower, the five Titans were limbering up, getting prepared for a training session.

"Alright Titans, standard procedure…" Robin called down to his team as he made a few last adjustments at the control panel. "We'll start off light to get warmed up, then move on from there."

"Very well then, let us begin now, please." Starfire said eagerly, her fists already beginning to glow with Starbolt energy.

"Ok, system initiated…"

At Robin's word, the armed droids suddenly sparked to life with a bit of electrical energy, their eyes lighting up and their bodies beginning to move. Starfire and Raven floated a couple feet above ground as they each began summoning their strength. Cyborg took aim at one of the droids, his right arm morphing into the Sonic Cannon and glowing with blue energy. Deciding to make the first move, he fired off an opening shot, which ripped its way through the air as it hurtled towards its target. Just before the attack would've made contact, a wall of steel shot up between the droid and Cyborg's blast. The blast exploded against the wall, leaving only a dent and a small cloud of smoke.

"You'll have to try a little harder than that…" Raven said as she ascended a few feet more, her eyes glowing white. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

A moment later, the metal wall which had just came up to protect the droid from Cyborg became the droid's undoing as Raven coated it with dark energy. With a wave of her hand, she ripped it up from the foundation and manipulated it until it was horizontal, directly above the droid's head. She then let gravity assist as she sent it crashing downward, crushing the droid in one swift motion. The force of impact shook the ground just a little, as debris was kicked up around the outside edges of the wall.

"Heh heh…nice!" Beast Boy exclaimed before shapeshifting into a panther.

"Man, if I'd charged my Sonic Cannon a little more, it would've destroyed the wall _and_ the robot!" Cyborg said as he dashed for the nearest opponent he could find. He encountered one soon enough, and grabbed the droid's gun arm before it could fire, swinging it around and around before flinging it into two more of its comrades, the three of them crashing into a wall.

Starfire flew through the resulting explosion, closing in on a target of her own. Aware of her presence, the droid aimed its gun at her and quickly fired off a series of bright yellow energy bursts. She dodged these in midair effortlessly, then fired off a salvo of Starbolts as a counteraction. The droid raised its free hand, palm open and facing outward as a white grid-like energy shield appeared around it. The droid then moved its arm accordingly as the energy shield negated each individual Starbolt.

Quickly devising a new plan as she neared the droid, Starfire landed, planting her feet firmly on the ground as she rammed a Starbolt energy-charged fist directly into the droid's midsection, before it could reactivate the shield or fire any more energy bullets. Starfire's tremendous punch left a gaping hole filled with exposed circuits and wires as she removed her fist, electricity tracing arcs across the gap from end to end. Another couple seconds and the droid exploded, Starfire shielding her face from the debris with her arms.

Just as the smoke was beginning to clear, Starfire could see a green shape, low to the ground, moving rapidly toward her. She instinctively ducked as panther Beast Boy bounded over her, the lean cat colliding forcefully with another droid who was in the middle of attempting a sneak attack on Starfire. Beast Boy pinned the droid to the ground, one paw restricting the movement of the droid's gun arm as he clawed at it with the other paw, until he'd scratched away some of the plating on the droid's chest.

Once he created this opening, Beast Boy transformed into a mouse, whereby he climbed into the droid and began gnawing at its internal wiring. After chewing through a wire or two, Beast Boy made his way back out, where he detransformed to watch the droid shut down, all smiles as he admired his handiwork.

"…I wish to express gratitude for your assistance." Beast Boy heard Starfire speak as she walked up behind him. Beast Boy turned his head to look her way, while flashing a thumbs up.

"Heh, no sweat!" Beast Boy said with a smile. Starfire giggled, emulating Beast Boy's thumbs up as best she could with one of her own.

"_On my planet, such a gesture would mean the Alkrenians were invading…" _Starfire mused, deciding that the Earth meaning was much different.

Meanwhile, Cyborg punched down a wall to reveal two more droids, already taking aim and shooting in his direction. As they began to move in on him, Raven flew over to his side, firing a piercing blast of black energy while Cyborg simultaneously fired a shot from his Cannon. Both attacks hit a droid in the head, which caused the droids to collapse onto one another. With no more immediate threats to deal with, Cyborg shot a glance back toward the control panel, where Robin was still standing.

"Yo Robin," he called, a hint of impatience in his voice. "…you just gonna sit up there all day, or what?"

Robin smirked, then extended his bo staff as he hopped over the panel, running down the cliff face for a few steps to build up speed until he hopped from the vertical surface, bringing the staff down upon a droid's head who'd just sprang up from the ground behind Cyborg and Raven. As Robin landed in a crouch, the droid whom he'd just attacked fell over sideways, its head smashed in.

"I figured I'd let you guys handle the easy ones…" Robin said as he whipped the staff around, getting into a ready stance. The others only looked at him quizzically as they wondered what was coming, but found out soon enough. A few mechanical sounds under their feet accompanied a low rumbling noise as metal plates under the ground began to move, opening a hole in the center of the plain. The rumblings became louder as the sound of metal grinding against metal could be heard. Something _big_ was coming to the surface.

"_Great…_" thought Raven, brushing dust off her body and cloak while floating backwards a little to put some distance between herself and whatever was going to come out of that hole. "_…What next?_"

"Dudes, I don't like the sound of this…" Beast Boy began, sounding just a tad worried. "Robin…what have you got planned for us…?"

Raven and Beast Boy's questions were soon answered when a humongous battlemech rose from the center of the plain. The silver and blue behemoth towered at nearly 25 feet, and came equipped with a small armory consisting of a plasma rifle in one hand, a smaller energy gun in the other, various missiles and rockets lining its arms, shoulders, and torso, as well as energy blades that could be extended from the wrists. And _that_ was only what could be seen on the exterior…

"…The Annihilator mk.III, courtesy of Cyborg." Robin said, the giant robot still not moving quite yet. Cyborg ogled the machine, adoring every aspect of it with a contented sigh. Beast Boy however, stared incredulously at it, mouth hanging wide as he pointed at it in total disbelief.

"Cy… you MADE that?"

Cyborg smirked, still admiring his creation. "Well, I had a _little_ help from Robin. Logistics, you know. Ain't she beautiful, though? Not since the T-Car have I built anything this pretty. Brings a tear to my eye…"

"But…but…the thing's armed to the teeth!" Beast Boy shouted. "I don't wanna be blown up!"

"Don't worry," Robin began, turning slightly to glance at Beast Boy reassuringly. "Those aren't live rounds. Cyborg and I tuned it for training in order to avoid seriously injuring anyone. Well, most of the stuff it can do in training mode wouldn't hurt you any more than the energy bullets those regular droids were just using. It might sting for a little while afterwards, but you'll be fine."

Starfire nodded, looking up at the machine in slight awe. "Robin and Cyborg would not construct a machine that could seriously damage us…together, I know we can defeat it!"

"It still _looks_ dangerous…" Raven said, making sure she was far enough from it to dodge anything it might shoot at her. She did _not_ want to experience the feeling of being cut by its laser blades, even if they _were_ set to low-intensity. At its current settings, such an attack probably wouldn't even break the skin, but Raven didn't care. Getting close to it was simply a risk she didn't want to take.

Suddenly, the Annihilator came to life, its eyes glowing bright yellow. Jets of steam hissed from the joints as it lumbered toward the Titans, one heavy step at a time.

"Stay sharp!" Robin yelled, his grip tight on his bo staff. "Titans, move!"

Without warning, hidden boosters on the back of the Annihilator fired, sending blue flames out behind it as it suddenly careened toward the five, all the while firing rounds from its rifle. The Titans dodged, Beast Boy transforming into a cheetah and sprinting around to the rear. Starfire flew up high, over the Annihilator's head, raining down a hail of Starbolts upon it. The Starbolts exploded on impact, but when the dust cleared, Starfire saw with dismay that little actual damage had been done, save for a few scorch marks.

Robin reached into his utility belt and drew a handful of bombs, which he then flung into the Annihilator's chest area. The bombs also left scorch markings on the machine, although there seemed to be no real effect besides slowing the thing down for a few moments. Cyborg rolled sideways in order to dodge bullets from the small energy pistol, while at the same time attacking with a burst of shots from his Sonic Cannon. Cyborg's aim was true, and his Cannon shots hit the Annihilator's plasma rifle directly, disabling it as a shower of sparks shot out from the Annihilator's right arm.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" At Raven's chant, all the destroyed metal walls and smaller droids in the area were absorbed in dark energy. After a few arm movements, Raven sent them all crashing inward, smashing into the Annihilator from all sides. The resulting explosion seemed to stun the giant, if only for a few short moments before it pointed its pistol at Raven and fired off a few shots. To defend, Raven thrust both her arms forward and created a black shield of energy that the bullets simply bounced off of.

Finally out of the behemoth's field of vision, cheetah Beast Boy jumped up, morphing into a rhino in midair to ram his horn into the Annihilator's back, right between the two boosters. The force of the hit caused the Annihilator to stumble forward a couple steps, but it also sent Beast Boy reeling back to the ground, where he detransformed, holding his nose in agony.

"Dude…that HURT!"

Robin ran in on the machine, hopping up to strike with his staff at the Annihilator's legs. In turn, the Annihilator dropped its disabled rifle, which crashed into the ground as a blue beam blade emerged from its wrist. It slashed downward with the blade, but Robin skillfully dodged, flinging more bombs at the Annihilator's sword arm.

Starfire remained overhead, firing Starbolt after Starbolt, trying desperately to create a dent _somewhere_ in the Annihilator's armor. To stop her pestering, The Annihilator shot a couple missiles from its shoulders, which curved upward to home in on Starfire. Distracted momentarily when she glanced at Beast Boy over on the ground, Starfire didn't see the missiles closing in until Robin called out to her, forcing her attention back to the fight. She crossed her arms over her face and chest to defend herself at the last moment, letting out a surprised gasp as the missiles detonated, sending her flying backward. The Tamaranian hurtled through the air until she collided with Raven, who at the moment was trying to focus her energies for another chant. The girls plummeted to the ground, landing in a heap. Robin broke off his attack to head in their direction, but Starfire was quickly back on her feet, smiling bashfully.

"Fear not, Robin," she began. "We are undamaged!"

"Speak for yourself…" Raven said softly, slowly rising to her feet. Sure, Starfire looked pretty light, but she felt like a ton of bricks when smacking into you at 70 mph, as Raven could attest.

A few moments later, the Annihilator attacked again, firing off a full set of rockets all aimed at Robin, Starfire and Raven. Despite the situation, Cyborg couldn't help but smile a bit while watching his creation do battle.

"It's…so beautiful…"

"Dude…" Beast Boy said, his hands still tending to his nose. "Stop gushing over it and help us beat it!"

Robin grabbed more bombs from his utility belt, and Starfire's hands and eyes once again began to glow bright green in response, but it was Raven who saved them.

"Azarath, Metrion, **Zinthos!**"

Her eyes glowed white as she thrust both arms outward again, palms open. The incoming rockets were consumed by dark energy, slowing to a halt just a short distance from the three Titans as Raven took control of them. She turned them in a complete 180° and sent them racing back to where they originated. After a massive explosion, the Annihilator stumbled back several steps, nearly crushing Beast Boy. To escape, he'd transformed into a cheetah again to sprint out of harm's way.

"Star, give me a lift!" Robin said, extending an arm to Starfire. She nodded, taking hold of his arm in hers before taking flight, making a beeline right for the off-balance Annihilator. Once they'd gotten close, Starfire flung Robin toward the machine. Robin flipped in midair, grabbing several more bombs from his belt. "Cyborg, NOW!"

Cyborg had been charging the Sonic Cannon, and at Robin's word, fired off a stream of blue energy, aimed straight for the center of the Annihilator. Robin simultaneously whipped a handful of explosive disks, aimed at the exact same spot to complete the Sonic Boom maneuver. Robin and Cyborg's assault was perfectly orchestrated, an enormous fiery explosion swirling out from the point of impact. The Annihilator was lifted off its feet, flying backward to land on its back in a monstrous crash back at the center of plain, where it had originally surfaced. Robin landed in a crouch right at the Annihilator's feet, the bo staff held at his side.

"So…that's it, then?" Raven asked, surprised that the fight was over so quickly, but in no hurry to complain. Robin slowly stood as Starfire clapped in delight.

"Yeah…" Robin said, just as the elevator began moving again, taking the defeated Annihilator back underground. "Good work, team."

A detransformed Beast Boy simply stammered, mouth hanging open before a slight scowl appeared. "You guys took it out just like that? You're the ones who built it in the first place!" he said, still in shock. "I bet you two had it all planned out all along!_"_

"Well, if training's over, I'm heading back inside…" Raven said, as she turned and flew back toward the Tower entrance.

"I think I hear the GameStation XL calling me…"Beast Boy shook his head and transformed into a seagull as he followed Raven inside. Starfire smiled and waved.

"Oh! It is time to feed Silkie again! He will catch 'the grumpy' if he does not have his Zorkaberries…" With that, Starfire took to the air, heading back inside as well. Cyborg was already on his way back in too. "Man, that was some nice teamwork back there…even though I didn't even get to see my baby use her internal cannon…"

He then glanced back and saw Robin still standing down in the central area, his back to the Tower.

"Cyborg…" Robin said, still not moving, his tone sounding serious. "…run the Red X simulator for me."

Cyborg went wide-eyed, not believing what he was hearing. "Say WHAT? Robin, man, Combat Training is over!"

"Not for me…" Robin said calmly.

"Besides, didn't you see everyone else head back in already? They're--"

"I'll fight it alone."

"You sure?" Cyborg asked, slowly walking back over to the control panel. "If you want, you can rest up a bit first, and--"

"Positive."

"Alright man…you got it…" Cyborg put in a few commands at the panel, pausing for a moment to ask Robin a question. "What difficulty level? Simple, Average, Advanced…?"

"Total Simulation." Robin said. That mode was placed above even the most challenging of the Training Center's difficulty levels. It was built to accurately simulate every aspect of the person being emulated. Cyborg couldn't help but feel concerned, but he had to remember who he was talking to. This was Robin. Robin was the one who once taught him about ignoring the body's limits, taught him about pushing himself just a little bit farther than he once thought possible, to be just a little bit better…if anyone knew what he was doing, it was Robin. Cyborg would just have to trust him on that.

"Ok then, it's all set. Do your thing. I'm headin' back in to whomp BB in the games, then I'll probably head down to start repairs on the Annihilator. If X starts kickin' your ass too bad, just holler…"

"Right…" Robin said, finally turning his head slightly to smirk up at Cyborg. Cyborg nodded, then turned to head back into the Tower.

A few moments later, the ground some distance behind Robin lit up, a column of white light seemed to surge up from the ground itself. A figure began to take shape in the light, the image made complete as the light began to fade away.

"You know, you should've kept your team out here if you wanted to do this, kid." There was no mistaking the voice. The Boy Wonder turned around, whipping his staff about to point the end at the simulated Red X.

"The next time I fight you…" Robin said, eyes narrowed, "…the real you…I'm ripping that damn mask off your face."

The simulation stood firm, hands on hips. "I'm shaking with fear."

Robin made a mad dash for Red X, swinging the bo staff in a wide, swinging arc. Red X simply chuckled, dodging by leaping straight up into the air. After a couple midair flips, Red X thrust both arms and legs outward while facing Robin, almost seeming to float weightless for a few brief moments. Robin quickly looked up, to see Red X pointing both palms at him, a barrage of Xs closing in on his head…

----------

Starfire drifted through the Tower, carrying her pet worm in her arms. There was a look of slight worry on her face as she headed into the Tower's main room. There, she saw Cyborg and Beast Boy playing video games, while Raven sat on the couch, totally immersed in a thick book, seemingly oblivious to all the noise coming from the two boys and their giant TV screen.

"Oh, I got you now boy!" Cyborg exclaimed, eyes lit up with excitement. "You can't beat me!"

"No way! I'm still totally gonna trash you!" came Beast Boy's competitive response.

"Friends…" Starfire said, her growing worry seeping through into her voice. "…where is Robin? After the Combat Training, I have searched the Tower, including the rooms where the villainous items are held, but he is not--"

"He's still out training." Cyborg said, refusing to look away from the game.

"…Training? But, the Combat Training for today has already--"

"Yeah…Robin still wanted to keep going. He's out there fighting the Red X Sim right now. Can't you hear all the explosions?"

Starfire gasped a quiet gasp, and quickly turned around to begin heading toward the Training Center, nearly dropping Silkie in the process.

"Hold it right there, Star." Cyborg called, still focusing on the game. "He wants to be alone, so just be cool, alright?"

"Be _cool_?" Starfire said, furrowing her brow as hints of anger began rising in her voice. "Surely you do not understand… Robin should **not** be--"

"Star, calm down…" Beast Boy said, trying to assist Cyborg in the debate while at the same time trying to smash his car off the road in the game. "You know how Robin gets all 'Leave me alone' when Red X or Slade comes up. You just gotta let him do what he wants."

"Starfire…Robin knows what he's doing…" Raven said, glancing up from her book for only a moment to meet Starfire's worried gaze. "We just need to trust him."

"But--"

"Star, it's alright. Robin's gonna be fine." Cyborg said, trying his best to reassure her.

Starfire looked from person to person, then sighed heavily, realizing that they were probably right. She resignedly floated over to an empty spot on the couch, cradling Silkie in her arms as she rubbed his belly, the look of saddened concern still present in her eyes.

----------

Robin lay sprawled on his back after taking a forceful kick to the gut from Red X. Unrelenting, the simulation pounced, extracting wrist blades and attempting to stab them through Robin's throat. For his private training session with Red X, Robin made sure that there were no safety precautions, save for life-threatening injuries. If the Red X simulation hit Robin in Total Simulation Mode, he'd feel every ounce of the pain, and he'd also have the bruises to show for it.

Robin brought up his staff just in time to parry Red Xs stab attack, while kicking his feet up into Red X's torso to flip the simulated thief over him. With Red X temporarily grounded, Robin rolled into a standing recovery, getting back into fighting stance as Red X got back to his feet.

"You're getting tired…" Red X taunted, folding his arms. "I can tell."

"Tired or not, I won't rest until I put you away!" Robin defiantly yelled.

A second later, Robin pulled a Birdarang from his belt, tossing it at Red X. To avoid this, Red X extracted a single wrist blade, slicing the Birdarang into two pieces which harmlessly fell at his sides. Seeing his attack negated, Robin dropped into a defensive stance as Red leapt at him again, aiming a punch for his head. Robin blocked it with his forearm, countering with a palm thrust that nailed Red X square in the face. Red X took a step back to recoil, then ducked under a swipe from Robin's staff, to rise up with an uppercut that caught Robin's chin. Robin stumbled back a couple steps, quickly shaking off the sting to dodge a few more punches from Red X.

Going on the offensive again, Robin swung his staff, aiming it for Red X's chest. With a skillful sidestep, Red X dodged, hitting Robin with a side kick that forced him to the ground again. In retaliation however, Robin threw a single bomb, which Red X saw coming but was unable to avoid. The explosion sent Red X flying several feet, until he landed hard on the ground, although he was quick to rise once again. Robin too was back on his feet in an instant.

"Hey kid, ready to call it quits yet?" Red X asked, his back to Robin.

"Not by a longshot." Came Robin's reply, as serious as ever.

Without warning, Red X swiftly turned to fire a shuriken X aimed at Robin's head. Reacting on a dime, Robin deftly slapped it away using his staff. In the same motion, Robin flung a handful of explosive disk-shaped bombs Red X's way. With the same speed Robin had, Red X protected himself by firing off explosive Xs, each one aimed at one of the bombs Robin had thrown. The opposing sides met in the middle, a giant explosion knocking both fighters several feet away from each other. Not long after, both were on their feet again, sprinting toward each other, their weapons at the ready, an inevitable clash waiting to happen...

----------

Back inside the Tower, Starfire had been watching Beast Boy and Cyborg's game on the big-screen TV, Silkie asleep in her lap.

"May we _now_ go see Robin?" She asked hopefully.

"He said he wanted to be alone." Cyborg said, mashing the buttons on his controller like a madman. Starfire sighed again, becoming dejected as she remained on the couch.

----------

Robin's staff collided with Red X's wrist blades, a shower of sparks coating both sides. The lock didn't last long as both sides disengaged, only to lock weapons again at a different angle, and again, and again. Tired of the stalemate, they leapt away from each other as Robin dashed in again, aiming a roundhouse kick for Red X's jaw. Red X ducked under, sweeping a leg out to trip Robin to the ground.

Once again, Red X tried to attack the downed Robin with wrist blades, but Robin rolled to safety, holding firm with his staff to deflect a few more incoming Xs. While Robin was busy deflecting, Red X dashed at him, both wrist blades closing in on his face. Just before Red X would've reached Robin, he faded from view, vanishing entirely in a flash of light. Still caught in the moment of battle, Robin looked about his surroundings in a panic, thinking Red X had either teleported or activated his Invisibility Cloak. Neither of these were the case as Robin soon heard a familiar voice calling down to him.

"Yo, Robin!" It was Cyborg. Robin looked up to see him at the control panel. "We got trouble..."

----------

Author's Note: Whoo! Feels good to update! Not a whole lot to say this time around, just wait for the next one! (Oh, and write a review while you wait!) Next time, the Titans answer the call, and Raven decides something needs to be done…


	5. Illumination

Author's Note: Meh.

Shout out:

**AnimationWickedRaven:** Things will only get better as the story goes on… Thanks for deciding to stick with me. You're probably the closest thing I've got to a consistent reader/reviewer…I appreciate that. Your constant words of encouragement have been really uplifting, and I dedicate Chapter 5 to you.

Let's get things rolling, shall we?

----------

Chapter 5: Illumination

----------

Robin sighed, his muscles slowly relaxing, his heightened heartrate beginning to return to normal as he held an arm out to retract his bo staff, then put it away. Though he wouldn't say anything about it, he was more than a little disappointed that he wasn't able to finish fighting the Red X simulation. As he made his way around to follow Cyborg and rendezvous with the other Titans, he reran the entire match in his mind. Both he and Red X had landed some critical strikes, but it seemed that, like always, the match had ended (though abruptly) in a draw. More or less…neither one could really get a distinct advantage over the other. Their skills were too evenly matched…

"…Is it Red X?" Robin suddenly found himself saying, to no one in particular, though Cyborg simply assumed Robin was addressing him since they hadn't caught up with the other Titans yet.

"Huh…? Oh. Nope…not today. Actually, we're dealing with Dr. Light again this time."

"Dr. Light…how'd he get out of jail?"

"Good question. I was wondering the exact same thing. I mean, the guy's a quack, plain and simple…but that's beside the point. All I care about is the fact that he's out on the streets again, terrorizing folks. We need to put a stop to it."

Cyborg slowed down for just a moment, smirking inwardly at himself. "_Heh…that sounds like something Robin would say…" _He thought it odd how he sounded like Robin more and more recently…like a leader. Robin had once appointed him the "second-in-command" of the team, and Cyborg really took it to heart. It was his job to guide the Titans whenever Robin, for one reason or another, was unable to do so. While it was a lot of responsibility to have, he _did_ appreciate it. After all, Robin needed to have a _lot_ of trust in someone before he'd make a big decision like that.

Robin simply nodded as he trailed Cyborg. "We'll just have to bring him down again, then. And this time, we'll make sure he _stays_ in jail."

----------

Robin and Cyborg made their way around to the front of the Tower, where Raven, Beast Boy, and Starfire waited.

"Dr. Light _again?_" Beast Boy groaned, expressing his lack of appreciation for being forced to stop playing his Gamestation so early in the day. "…I can't believe he'd try anything else after what Raven did to him though..." Beast Boy reached his arms around to place his palms on the back of his head, chuckling as he shot a friendly grin Raven's way. She looked at him, but did not smile. "…Anyway, what exactly _is_ he doing this time?" Beast Boy asked.

Cyborg brought up his left arm, punching in a few buttons as a small LCD screen flipped up, revealing a digital readout as well as a brief video recording of Dr. Light, enveloped in golden light as all the buildings around him went dark. "Reports say he's been causing blackouts around the city in order to power some new tech on his improved supersuit."

"Looks like we'll be finding out why…" Raven mused.

"We won't give him the chance to show us why." Robin said, determination abounding in his voice.

"Of course, people losing their electricity isn't _too_ bad of a problem in the middle of the day, but come nightfall, the complaints are gonna increase." Cyborg went on.

"Dude…" Beast Boy began, his voice bordering whiny. "…speaking of 'middle of the day,' I haven't had lunch yet, and I'm _really_ hungry…"

"We can eat after this." Robin said, his gaze moving out toward the city. Beast Boy moaned, rubbing his stomach with a saddened frown suddenly appearing on his face.

"_Well, at least that means I'll be able to eat soon,_" Beast Boy thought, a sly grin finding its way back to his face. "_If he's anything like he was the last couple times we fought him, one look at Raven oughta have him begging to be locked FAR away…" _

Beast Boy thought back to the previous encounters with Dr. Light, and couldn't help but chuckle a bit to himself when he recalled the expression of pure terror plastered all over Dr. Light's face when Raven unleashed her anger full-force on him. The second time wasn't even much of a fight, really…Dr. Light just sort of gave up when he saw Raven again.

"Please…what is a 'blackout'?" Starfire inquired, stepping forward. "We do not have such a term on my planet…"

Everyone looked at her for a few moments, then Cyborg spoke, breaking the silence. "Well, basically a blackout is when all the electricity in a given area is disabled."

"Yeah…" Beast Boy pitched in, "…that means no lights, no TV, no AC…good thing Cy installed the generators under the Tower, 'cuz I dunno if I could go on without my Gamestation…"

"You probably couldn't…" Cyborg said in jest, a smirk on his face.

"HEY!" Beast Boy said, cocking an eyebrow as he stared at Cyborg, wagging an angry finger. "Well…you probably couldn't either! You play it as much as I do!"

Starfire nodded, more or less gaining an understanding of the term. Robin suddenly broke things up.

"Enough chitchat…Dr. Light's still out there, and we're not. Let's get going."

With that, the Titans made their way across to the city, Starfire carrying Cyborg while eagle Beast Boy and Raven carried Robin. Once they reached the city, Robin and Cyborg were let down so they could get to the R-Cycle and T-Car, which were hidden away in a dark warehouse near the bay. With Robin and Cyborg taking to the roads, Beast Boy, Starfire and Raven continued their flight, everyone following behind the T-Car since Cyborg had Dr. Light's location pinpointed on his GPS. A red blip on the map of the city, downtown district…

----------

"Well, well, Jump City…" said Dr. Light, as he waved his arms about, absorbing all the electricity from the surrounding buildings. "…thanks for all this wonderful light, you didn't need it anyway! HAHA!"

Dr. Light's suit glowed bright gold again as all the windows in the buildings around him suddenly went dark. "Heheh…and once I'm finished here, the only source of light left will be the Sun! But not to worry…he'll get his turn soon enough. Haha…and then…I will be… UNSTOPPABLE!"

Dr. Light let out a maniacal cackle, amazed at himself for coming up with such a brilliant plan. Although, his celebration was cut short when he heard two engines closing in on him. Soon after, he saw the R-Cycle as it jumped over a parked car, skidding to a stop as Robin hopped from it. He removed his helmet, then reached for his bo staff as the T-Car pulled up beside him, the other three Titans not far behind.

"Unstoppable?" Robin asked, an arrogant smirk forming as he pointed the staff at Dr. Light. "Hardly."

Cyborg got out of the T-Car as the others flew in close.

"Ah…the Teen Titans," he said as they prepared to attack. "Normally I'd be afraid, especially of…_that one_…" Dr. Light glanced Raven's way. "However, what you children fail to realize is that I no longer need to fear darkness…with this new power, I no longer need to fear YOU!"

Suddenly, Dr. Light fired a wide stream of pure light energy which Raven diverted just in time with a well-placed shield of dark energy. With the immediate threat removed, the Titans moved into action.

"Titans, GO!" Robin yelled. All five Titans began closing in on Dr. Light, who stood his ground with some air of confidence, despite his poor track record against them. Robin was the first Titan to attack, swiping at Dr. Light with his staff. Dr. Light only took a step back, a devious smirk on his face as he grabbed one end of the staff, charging it with Light energy. Almost instantly, Robin felt the charge travel from the staff, through his body, and he yelled in pain as Dr. Light finally halted the transfer of energy, maintaining his grip on Robin's staff as the Boy Wonder was forced to release it, freewheeling through the air until he hit the roof of a car. On impact, the roof smashed inward, all the glass windows breaking simultaneously.

"**ROBIN!**" Starfire yelled, turning away from the fight to attend to Robin. She floated over to the car he landed on, attempting to grab at his arm and pull him off of it.

"Starfire, I'm fine…" Robin said, partially accepting her help while still trying to get up on his own. "We need to focus on getting Dr. Light!"

Dr. Light continued to smirk at the three who remained as he made the bo staff his own, charging it with Light energy until it crackled golden sparks and glowed bright, the same color as his powered-up suit.

"Come, then, Titans." Dr. Light said, his level of confidence skyrocketing by the second. "Let me show you the mighty power of Light."

"Dude…" said Beast Boy, sounding just a little annoyed. "…quit trying to sound all high-and-mighty, just 'cuz you can make a pretty light show!"

"You're still just a petty criminal." Cyborg said. "And like all the rest, you're gettin' put away for a _long_ time."

Dr. Light only laughed again, holding the charged bo staff with malice. "If any one of you thinks you're up to the task, then please, by all means, step forward."

Cyborg had heard enough. Without a moment's hesitation, he fired a blast from the Sonic Cannon, but Dr. Light only threw out his free hand, a wall of Light forming around it to absorb the blast.

"Nice try." Dr. Light said arrogantly. "…but the Light cannot be overpowered by such inferior means."

In the meantime, Beast Boy had already turned into a grizzly, and was swinging angry paws in Dr. Light's direction. Bad move. Dr. Light blocked with the charged staff, sending a slight shock through Beast Boy in the process. However, while in the form of a giant bear with such thick skin, the energy didn't hurt quite as much as it would have otherwise. But Dr. Light whipped the staff around, smacking grizzly Beast Boy in the jaw, a powerful hit which sent him crashing to the ground, where he detransformed.

By this time, Starfire had helped Robin back to his feet, whether he wanted her help or not, and the two of them were charging Dr. Light once again. Robin lashed out with a flying kick, which Dr. Light ducked under. To retaliate, Dr. Light swung the staff at Robin several times. Fortunately, Dr. Light was nowhere near as skilled with the weapon as Robin was, so Robin was able to easily dodge each attack. As he backflipped away, back toward Starfire, he flung disc-shaped bombs, Starfire firing off Starbolts and eye lasers at the same time. But nothing connected, as Dr. Light once again formed a wall of Light to protect himself.

"Surely that's not your best…" Dr. Light taunted from behind his wall.

However, the two of them continued to close in, unaware of Dr. Light's plan to suddenly go on the offensive again. Just as they had gotten close, Dr. Light hit his wall of Light with the staff, sending it exploding outward, where it caught both Robin and Starfire in the blast, sending them hurtling back for some distance down the street until Starfire's back slammed into a building, Robin simply skidding down the street until he came to a stop in a heap.

Cyborg had fired mirco-missiles from his chest, but Dr. Light didn't seem too worried, quickly forming another Light shield to protect himself. A moment later, Dr. Light took the shield down, absorbing the energy into the staff until he sent it out in the form of a high-speed energy bullet, which traveled at breakneck speed before it cracked right into Cyborg's chest, leaving a medium-sized hole there. Cyborg flew backward, crashing into the ground and moaning in pain as the Light energy still traveled through his circuits.

Only one Titan remained.

"Come, now, Teen Titans…" Dr. Light said, his facial expression wild, drunk with his newfound power. "For your sake, I hope you can do better than this."

"**_I_** can." Raven said simply, floating up into the air a few feet.

"Ah, the never-ending struggle…" Dr. Light went on, if only to hear himself talk. A crazed smirk appeared on his face. "Light versus Darkness...a battle which has raged on through the annals of time itself…"

"Enough!" Raven shouted, floating up a bit more as her eyes turned white. "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

At Raven's word, a nearby parked bus was lifted from the ground as Raven filled it with dark energy, sending it careening toward Dr. Light. The man chuckled, not moving as the bus rapidly closed in on him. A gigantic explosion flung dust and debris everywhere, as Raven closed her eyes, shielding her face with her arms. When the forceful winds and debris finally died down, Raven opened her eyes again, gazing through the cloud of smoke to find a sphere of Light energy.

"_Of course…_" Raven thought. It seemed the man wasn't as utterly incompetent as she'd once assumed.

"A valiant effort…" Dr. Light began, "…but all in vain."

Raven interrupted him, firing off several bursts of piercing Black energy in an attempt to make contact with Dr. Light. It didn't work, as all Raven's energy bursts simply dissipated on contact with Dr. Light's sphere. Dr. Light laughed yet again, taunting Raven from inside the sanctuary of his sphere.

"That will get you nowhere. For you see, dear girl…Darkness simply cannot exist where there is **LIGHT!**"

Another instant, and Dr. Light's sphere was absorbed into the lightbulb symbol on the chest of his suit, where he then fired it at Raven in the form of an energy net. Raven tried to turn and flee, but the trap followed her, gaining much too fast for her to escape. Soon, it closed around her, forming a sphere similar to the one that had just surrounded Dr. Light a few moments earlier. With the prisoner inside, the sphere brightened until it was almost completely opaque. Raven let out a pained scream as wave after wave of Light energy coursed through her body, golden light shooting out from her eyes and her mouth.

"How does it feel?" Dr. Light asked, his confidence overflowing now. "…Basking in the rays of Light…**that's for what you did to me!**"

As Beast Boy slowly sat up, he heard Dr. Light's insane laughter, as well as Raven's agonized screaming. He looked wide-eyed at the golden sphere in horror.

"Oh no… **RAVEN!**"

Beast Boy hopped up, as the others slowly took notice of what was happening. Both Beast Boy and Robin attacked at the sphere, Robin throwing bombs as Beast Boy transformed into a gorilla, slamming his powerful fists on the sphere. Their attacks bounced off, gorilla Beast Boy being sent back to the ground again upon making contact with the sphere.

"We have to save her!" Robin yelled. "He shot that sphere out from that symbol on his chest…maybe that's his weak point…" At that, he sprinted at Dr. Light, Starfire and Cyborg following close behind as gorilla Beast Boy stayed back, trying desperately to disable the Light sphere. His fists didn't work, so next he tried ripping a streetlight up from the ground.

"_I just hope this doesn't hurt Raven…_" he thought.

A moment later, he swung the streetlight full-force into the sphere. It collided with a colossal sound, but the sphere didn't even move, much less lose any energy as the streetlight was completely destroyed. Beast Boy detransformed, scratching his head in puzzlement. He didn't like the situation, but there didn't seem to be much he could do. He walked up to the sphere and peered inside, where he could just barely make out Raven's form, her arms and legs extended outward as energy surged through her.

"C'mon, Raven! Fight it!" Beast Boy suddenly yelled. "I _know_ you can do it!"

Raven could faintly hear him through the sphere, but she had trouble discerning what he said. Once again, she found herself attempting to draw strength from Anger, but the strength she needed so desperately just wouldn't come. Under normal circumstances, she knew she would've been able to break free of such a trap with a simple explosive burst of dark energy, but she was…unable to do so, for some strange reason. Of all her emotions, Anger was the only one that felt so…_weak_. She screamed again, in response to which Beast Boy shot an enraged glance at Dr. Light, who was still in the process of fending off the other Titans. Rage consuming him, he took the form of the primal Were-Beast he'd once become in order to save Raven's life, then bounded in the direction of the fight.

"_The symbol on his chest…_" Were-Beast Boy thought, recalling Robin's words from just moments earlier. "_That's Raven's only hope…_"

"Haha…" laughed Dr. Light, as he blocked a barrage of Starbolts and Sonic Cannon blasts with the staff. "You just don't understand. You children cannot hope to stand against the Light!"

"Grr…" Robin growled, trying his best to take down Dr. Light, hoping that would be the key to releasing Raven. However, in the heat of battle, he didn't hear Were-Beast Boy coming, and didn't notice until the ferocious Beast dashed past him, Starfire, and Cyborg, hopping up into the air, to roll into a ball of pure anger. Dr. Light noticed, but still far too late as he couldn't bring the staff up to block, or form another Light shield in time. Were-Beast Boy spun through the air, slamming all his weight directly into the lightbulb symbol on Dr. Light's suit. With a thunderous cracking sound, the symbol shattered as Dr. Light was sent flying down the street.

Almost on cue, the sphere of Light which held Raven prisoner vanished into nothing, her body falling limp to the ground. As soon as he saw, the Were-Beast dashed back toward her, detransforming as he kneeled down to check on her. Her eyes were closed.

"Raven…?" Beast Boy said, fear and concern welling up inside him.

By this time, Dr. Light had struggled his way back to his feet, an incredulous expression on his face after realizing what had just happened. His suit no longer glowed quite as brilliantly, though there was still a bit of power left in it. Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg were moving in on him again.

"Just give it a rest, doc…" Cyborg said calmly, aiming his Cannon at Dr. Light as he walked, just in case. "It ain't worth it."

"Yes…" Starfire began, her expression showing concern, but her hands still aglow with Starbolt energy. "Your actions thus far have been senseless, and if you will merely agree to--"

"Fools!" Dr. Light interrupted, his grip still tight on Robin's staff. " 'Senseless'? How dare you insult me? Hear me now…before all is said and done, you will all see the Light!"

With that, Dr. Light dashed for Robin, yelling angrily as he raised the staff high to strike. Robin was prepared to defend, but just before the staff would've reached him, Dr. Light froze in place. Robin glanced up, to see Dr. Light's eyes wide, frozen in panic. Black energy in the form of Raven's soul-self had snaked its way past Robin to plant itself into the exact spot where Dr. Light's lightbulb symbol had once been.

A brief flash of white, and Dr. Light began violently convulsing, soon releasing Robin's staff before suddenly being lifted off his feet, flying back for some yards before landing hard on his back. Robin, Starfire and Cyborg looked back to see Raven standing some distance behind them, Beast Boy nearby. Raven was leaning forward, her palm still outstretched, her entire body heaving with each breath that she took.

A few short moments later, the soul-self emerged from Dr. Light, making its way back until it re-entered Raven, followed by another flash of white. At that point, Raven shook just a little, then collapsed, though Beast Boy was swift to catch her. He draped one of her arms around his shoulders as he began to walk toward the Titans, while Robin walked over to recover his staff. It still felt rather warm to the touch, no doubt the aftereffect of channeling Dr. Light's powerful Light energy. Robin glanced at it for a few seconds, then retracted it, putting it away. Together, they moved toward the fallen Dr. Light, who was clearly unconscious, though his body still convulsed a little every few seconds or so.

At the sound of sirens, Cyborg glanced farther down the street. "Well…looks like we're done here, y'all. JCPD'll take care of the rest."

"Dudes…" Beast Boy started, a toothy grin finding its way onto his face. "How about some pizza? I'd say we've earned it…"

"Sounds good." Raven said, opening her eyes to look at her friends. The others looked at her, somewhat surprised at her reaction. It wouldn't be the first time…

As the Titans left Dr. Light to the authorities, Raven had more or less recovered, at least enough to free herself from Beast Boy and take to flight on her own strength.

"Raven…" Robin said, concern in his voice as he started up the R-Cycle. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"I'm fine, Robin." She replied, turning to fly after Starfire and hawk Beast Boy. On the way to the pizza place, she pondered things. This was the second time in less than 24 hours that Anger had failed her when she needed it most…something was definitely wrong…and she was going to find out what.

"Raven…" Starfire said while glancing back, still sounding worried about the girl's well-being. "…you are…certain…you are…alright?"

To this, Raven nodded, though her expression remained unreadable. "Don't worry about it, Starfire. I'm ok. I just need to…rest for a while once we get back to the Tower."

Although, she _knew_ what she'd have to do once she got back to her room. There was only one way to find out what was wrong with her…

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Author's Note: Ok! Chapter 5 is done! After a surprisingly tough battle with Dr. Light, the Titans head out for a bite to eat, then home to rest up. Although Raven won't say anything about it, something's wrong with her emotions…although, maybe it isn't that hard for the others to tell after all. Next time, Raven takes a familiar journey…


	6. Internal Analysis, pt1

Author's Note: **600+** hits so far. Guess that's saying _something_, ne?

Thanks for reading, people.

Wheeee…

Shout outs:

**Siberian-Tigress: **Alright. You got yourself a deal. Just remember to drop reviews while you read, too, yah? I'd like that.

**AnimationWickedRaven:** Heh…thanks for the kind words. Don't worry, 'cuz I don't plan on stopping anytime soon.

**Shades of Grey:** Whoa. Seeing all those review notices pop up in my inbox really made my day. You rock. Thanks for all the wonderful compliments, and Red X will be back soon. How soon? We'll see…

**evilsangle: **Hey there! Thanks for the support! Well, to be perfectly honest with you, I hadn't really decided on making any pairings for this fic concrete as of yet…there are hints here and there of various possibilities however, and we'll just have to see how it goes…don't get mad if you see something you don't like though, I'll make up for it later. Just trust me.

Alright then…time to get this show on the road.

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Chapter 6: Internal Analysis, pt.1

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Before long, the Titans made their way from the scene of their battle with Dr. Light to one of their favorite places to just hang out: The Pizza Parlor. Once the familiar destination was in sight, Beast Boy was the first person inside as he detransformed from a hawk to his human form while still a couple feet in the air, to hit the ground running straight for the door. Fortunately, Dr. Light's blackout spree hadn't spread to that part of the city yet.

Upon entering, he was delighted to find no line to wait in, and so he bolted right for the front counter, taking the youthful blonde female employee working there by surprise. She was a bit startled to see a whirlwind of green rip its way through the doors, and couldn't help but raise her eyebrows as she looked at the newest customer.

Eagerly placing his forearms on the counter, Beast Boy leaned in, beaming a huge smile her way as bright as the Sun itself. She chuckled nervously, recognizing his face from the news. She was a new employee, after all, as everyone else there already knew what was happening.

"Hey…it's the Teen Titans!" a teenaged boy yelled from a table somewhere in the back. Beast Boy turned briefly to flash a thumbs up, just as the other four Titans were entering the restaurant. Of course, Cyborg got a few blank stares as patrons couldn't help but notice the hole in his chest, but he simply shrugged it off with a laugh.

"It's alright, folks," Cyborg said, a friendly smile on his face. "Everything's a-ok!"

"…Does it hurt?" A young girl sitting nearby asked, turning in her chair to poke her fork into the hole.

"Nah, not anymore." Cyborg said, a wide grin on his face. The girl's mother shot her a stern glance, tapping her hand on the table to get her daughter's attention. "Ashley! Stop that!"

Little Ashley removed her fork, turning sharply to return to her plate. "Sorry, mama…"

The poor waitress was completely bewildered by this point, however.

"Um…how may I…help you?" She apprehensively asked, trembling only slightly.

Beast Boy's eyes went wide as he gazed at the various choices (vegetarian, of course) on the menu board, illuminated above the girl's head. His eyes darted back and forth as he considered his options, his mouth starting to hang open as he prepared to speak.

"Ahh…um…no, wait…I'll have a…" he started to say, before Cyborg slammed his hand down on Beast Boy's head, pushing him down out of the waitress's sight.

"Now hold on just a minute, BB…" Cyborg said, muscling his way in front of Beast Boy to get to the front counter. "…I am NOT having another veggie pizza! This time we're getting MEAT! They got the Super Deluxe Meaty Special, and I want that!"

"DUDE!" Beast Boy shouted, waving his arms wildly about while forcing his way back up until he was standing straight again, even though Cyborg's hand was still pressing down on his head. "How can you even say that? You know I turn into all those animals…that's just **SICK!**"

Cyborg craned his neck a bit to come face-to-face with him, snorting like a mad bull. "I'm…having…**meat**." was all he said, making sure there was no doubt that he got his point across. Beast Boy refused to back down, however.

"Guys, it's no big deal…" Robin decided it was best to step in before things got out of hand. "We can just get it split. Part of it can be veggie, part of it can be everything else."

"…You _can_ do that, right?" Raven asked the waitress, leaning over the counter after having snuck her way around the argument. The woman nodded, pressing a few buttons on the cash register.

Beast Boy scowled for a moment, returning his attention to the front counter. "I should just get my own veggie pizza…"

Cyborg laughed in response, his entire facial expression changing just like that. "A whole…BB, you know you can't eat a whole pizza! If anyone could, it'd be me. Besides, you don't have any money."

Beast Boy glared at Cyborg again, and partially opened his mouth as if to say something, but then decided against it, grinning instead as he reached up to place one palm behind his head. "Heh…good point, Cy."

"So I'll split it five ways, then?" She asked them. Cyborg and Beast Boy put their differences aside, both nodding as everyone finally came to an agreement. "Alright then…what'll go on each portion?"

"Super Deluxe Meaty Special!" Cyborg yelled.

"Super Deluxe _Veggie_ Special!" Beast Boy shouted, matching Cyborg's loudness.

"I'll have pepperoni and green peppers." Robin said, folding his arms.

"Just cheese is fine…" came Raven's response as she pulled her hood down.

"Oh! I shall have mustard, please!" Starfire said, giddy with delight. Everyone turned to look at her.

"Um…Starfire," Robin began. "I don't think they have mustard as a topping…"

"Hm…how unfortunate…" Starfire said, her countenance dropping just a bit. "If that is so, then I shall have the onions, olives…and the anchovies."

The employee nodded again, making sure she got everyone's requests just right. Robin paid, and shortly after that, the Titans made their way up to their favorite table in the outside dining area. Just as they were seated, another waitress made her way over, to sit their specially made pizza on the table.

"That's why I love this place…" Cyborg said, smiling. "You never have to wait long for your food!"

Beast Boy agreed, slapping Cyborg a high-five before getting to work on his part of the pizza. The others soon did likewise, Starfire reaching down under the table to pull a small bottle of mustard. Beast Boy glanced over, a slightly confused expression present as he watched Starfire smother her pizza in mustard.

"Star…did you bring that with you when we went after Dr. Light…?"

Starfire only giggled, but would not answer as she devoured her portion of the pizza. Giving up on the lost cause, Beast Boy then turned back to Cyborg, the two soon breaking into an argument over who was better at which game.

"Alright, ya little grass stain…" Cyborg said, his voice growing louder and louder. "…I tried being nice, but next time I'm gonna make you wish you never even picked up the controller!"

"No chance!" Beast Boy yelled, engaging Cyborg once again in the shouting match. "Don't you remember from earlier today? I beat you every race!"

"Heh. Keep talkin', green man…why don't we try it in Hyper Robot Power Battle 3 Turbo EX plus Alpha: Reloaded? I always _was_ better at the fighting games…"

Beast Boy promptly stopped the argument at that, knowing full-well that Cyborg was speaking the truth. At the mention of that particular game, memories flooded back into Beast Boy's mind. Frustration, confusion, inferiority, utter hopelessness…memories that he'd rather forget. Suddenly looking for someone else to talk to, Beast Boy turned his attention to Raven, who up until now had been silently working on her slice.

"Hey Raven…" Beast Boy said, an impish, mischievous smirk arching across his face. "Knock, knock…"

Raven shifted her eyes slightly to glance at him sideways, cocking one eyebrow. She then decided to go with her better judgement and decline him. "No thanks…"

"Aw, come on, Raven…" Beast Boy persisted, leaning over to get closer, still smiling that smile of his which irritated her so. The attempt at persuasion slowly started to grate her nerves. "…you _know_ you want to…"

Raven looked away, trying to find something else to pay attention to. She looked at the others…Robin and Starfire were talking amongst themselves, and Cyborg was far too busy scarfing down pizza to help…which only left _him_. She turned back, to see Beast Boy still smiling at her, still awaiting a response, the exact same pose he was in when she first looked away. She sighed, resigning herself to her fate.

"…Who's there?" She half-heartedly asked, annoyance plain as day in her voice. _Why_ was she subjecting herself to this torment again…?

Beast Boy's wide grin just would not go away. "Woo," he said, the grin growing even wider, as if it were possible.

Raven sighed again. Couldn't he bother someone else?

_Anyone_ else…?

"…Woo who?" Raven replied, rolling her eyes dismissively. It would be over soon. Just as soon as those words escaped her lips, however, she winced, an eyebrow twitching as she prepared herself for the inevitable punchline. "_Woo-hoo…?_" Raven thought. "_What kind of--"_

"Gee Raven, I know the guy makes great movies, but I had no idea you liked John Woo so much!" Beast Boy's smile cracked, as he suddenly burst into uproarious laughter, clutching at his sides. Cyborg looked over, a slight grin forming, if not at Beast Boy's horrible joke, then at what terrible thing would happen to him because of it.

Robin and Starfire had also caught wind of what was going on by this time, and they joined Cyborg in taking a look at the surroundings, eyes peeled for anything that might suddenly glow black, a sure sign to hit the deck. Beast Boy slapped a hand to his forehead, still laughing at his own joke.

"Hahaha…now Raven, you _can't_ tell me that wasn't funny!"

Raven's entire right eye began to twitch. A vein throbbed once or twice on her temple. The surrounding tables all began to glow with black energy, as Robin, Starfire, and Cyborg took the cue and ducked under the table. They covered their ears, expecting the worst…moments passed. Nothing happened.

Robin bravely ventured to peek up over the table. Beast Boy was still chuckling. Raven's hands were tightly clasped to the edge of the table, and she stared straight ahead. But more surprisingly, all the tables that had been glowing black and slightly hovering were lowered back onto the floor, the dark energies suddenly departed from them. Slowly, Cyborg and Starfire also peeked up from their hiding place. Now, everyone was looking at Raven. She continued to stare off at nothing in particular.

"…Can we go home now?" Raven asked simply. The others nodded. Beast Boy glanced at Raven, making sure to maintain his grin in order to avoid betraying his thoughts.

"_Ok_, _I tell a joke, and Raven doesn't get mad and throw stuff at me?_ _Now I **know** something's wrong…_"

----------

Back at the Tower, the Titans began to disperse, Raven heading straight for her room. As she drifted across the main room of the Tower, she stopped when she heard Beast Boy say something behind her.

"Raven, listen, about earlier…"

She turned to glance at him, but they were both taken by surprise when a steaming ball of musty clothing launched itself from a shadowy hallway, whistled through the air, and smacked against the back of Beast Boy's head, the young changeling falling flat on his face. A second later, a thoroughly amused Cyborg emerged from the hall, bellowing laughter.

"Booyah! Got ya again, BB!" Cyborg yelled, pumping his fist in the air as a sign of victory. "**STANKBALL!**"

Beast Boy groaned in defeat as he slowly got back to his feet…he couldn't believe he let his guard down. He'd figured Cyborg would've been more concerned with repairing the hole in his chest. Just as he was beginning to go after the stankball to retaliate, he saw Starfire float into the room, an eager look on her face as she looked from person to person.

"Oh! Friends…might I please be allowed to join in the 'Stankball'?" she asked, gesturing innocently.

Cyborg just looked at her, genuinely worried for the safety of everyone involved if Starfire attempted to play the game. "Um…Star, about that…"

"Pleeeease?" she pleaded, her eyes wide and infinitely hopeful. Cyborg looked to Beast Boy and Raven for some sign of what to do. Raven sighed, rolling her eyes again as Beast Boy slowly nodded, still unsure of himself.

"Sure…" Cyborg said, to which Starfire immediately lit up with joy, giggling profusely. "…go for it."

Not wasting another second, Starfire darted around, past Beast Boy to snatch up the stankball before he could even reach for it. Another instant, and she quickly turned in air to fling the stankball with Tamaranian force at Cyborg. Right away, he regretted allowing Starfire to play. His eyes widened in fear as the pile of clothes ripped its way toward him, the thing easily traveling faster than any Major League pitcher's best fastball.

He had no hope of dodging it.

Beast Boy and Raven winced on reflex as the stankball slammed into Cyborg, right between the eyes. His head snapped back as he flew clear across the room, smashing up against a wall. There he sat, slumped against the wall, dazed and confused. Robin had heard all the commotion and came to investigate, just as Cyborg was coming into contact with the wall. Starfire squealed in delight, clapping her hands as she turned to Beast Boy.

"I am…victorious, yes?"

Beast Boy simply stared blankly at her, unable to speak. Raven did it for him.

"I'd say so…"

Starfire giggled again as Robin went to help a wobbly Cyborg to his feet. "Looks like you'll be needing a few extra repairs…" Robin said, helping Cyborg down the hall to his room.

"I will assist with the repairing!" Starfire called, dashing off to follow Robin and Cyborg. Cyborg couldn't help but groan.

"Are we sure she knows what she's doing…? She could corrupt my systems or something!"

Finally, the sheer hilarity of the situation hit Beast Boy in full, and he broke down in a torrent of laughter, rolling along the ground and clutching at his sides again.

"Oh man…he's gonna be smelling that for _days_!"

Raven took this opportunity to back out into the adjacent hallway, leaving Beast Boy behind as she made her way down to her own room.

----------

After she'd rounded the last corner, Raven was stopped again when she heard a voice behind her.

"Raven…"

It was Beast Boy. She halted, turning her head slightly, but she did not look at him.

"Beast Boy…" she said, acknowledging his presence, but still attempting to sound impatient. "I'm tired, and I need to rest. So if you don't mind--"

"…You're going into your mind again, aren't you?" Beast Boy interjected, the directness of his question and the tone of his voice slightly startling her. Wasn't he just rolling on the floor laughing a minute ago? She froze, unsure of what to say next. She turned a little more, allowing herself to look at him more fully.

"I…" she started to say.

"Let me go with you." Beast Boy said, his voice serious, even for him. "I can tell something is wrong, and I want to help."

Raven was taken slightly aback again. Was he serious? Did he know what he'd be getting himself into? Of course he did…he'd visited her mind once before, along with Cyborg. The two of them had no business barging into her room and finding her mirror in the first place, as far as she was concerned. So why was he so set on going back? Even given the circumstances…they'd almost been destroyed in there. It surprised her that anyone would be willing to set foot in such a place, more than once, and of their own free will, no less. What could Beast Boy do to help her anyway? Raven stopped herself.

Was she actually considering this?

"No." Raven said, trying to keep her voice as deadpan as possible. "I appreciate your concern…but this is something I have to do on my own. It's my problem. Let me deal with it."

"But Raven…" Beast Boy persisted, taking a step forward. She wouldn't give him the chance to plead his case, however, as she turned, hurriedly hovering to her door. She opened it, stepping inside and moving to close it just as Beast Boy had approached her doorway. She stood facing him, her eyes unreadable.

"I'm sorry." Raven said, just as the door slid completely shut.

Now isolated in her dark room, she floated over to pull the curtains over her windows, blocking out most of the sunlight that had entered. Then, she touched her feet to the ground, walking over to her black dresser. Sure enough, there it lay, her magic mirror, right on top of the dresser. She glanced down at it, preparing herself for the journey ahead. Before she moved to pick it up, however, she took one more glance at her closed door. She knew Beast Boy was still standing there, on the other side…she hoped he would forgive her.

Turning back to her mirror, she reached down to pick it up. She gazed upon her own face on its reflective surface, and a moment later, the familiar flash of light as she was pulled inside, the mirror itself clattering to the floor as she was sent hurtling through the dark tunnel. She fixed her gaze straight ahead, patiently waiting for the trip to end. The portal now opened over a rocky patch of ground, and Raven was thrust from the tunnel, onto the hard ground. She looked up as the portal closed, dusting herself off as she found herself on the outskirts of Nevermore. The sky was pitch black, dotted with red stars and perpetual eclipses…everything looked the same so far. Immediately, she could sense something amiss however…she stood, beginning the long walk down a rocky path. As she went, the small black ravens lining the path were all silent, unmoving, eyes shut. She continued to walk past them, her eyes focused solely on the path ahead.

----------

Minutes passed. Beast Boy still stood outside Raven's door, wondering what he should do next. He glanced left and right, down both sides of the hallway to make sure he was alone, then cautiously stepped closer to Raven's door again. Gathering his courage, he tried opening the door…locked, of course. But he had a plan…

Beast Boy knelt down, tracing a finger along the very bottom of the door. It seemed pretty airtight, but there was a catch…he took the form of one of the smallest things he could think of: a tiny ant. Then he crawled closer to the door. Sure enough, there was a tiny opening where the door's sliding mechanism connected with the floor. It would be an extremely tight fit, but ant Beast Boy just barely managed to squeeze himself underneath, and after a slight struggle, emerged on the other side of the door. He then resumed human form, to find himself in Raven's room. He took a look around…it was more or less the same as he'd remembered it. Still dark and gloomy…still eerily foreboding.

"_Sheesh, Raven…ever consider redecorating?_"

He briefly wondered what she'd say if she knew he was doing this…it probably wouldn't be pleasant. He shrugged off the thought, beginning to search for the magic mirror. He didn't need to search long, as he found it lying face up on the floor. He walked over, bending down to pick it up…

----------

Raven had been walking along the path for some time now. She wondered about all her emotions, she could still sense each individual one, but she couldn't single one out to locate it in particular. She stopped walking, her feet lifting a few inches off the ground as she sat cross-legged in air, taking on a meditative position. She closed her eyes, beginning her familiar mantra.

"Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…Azarath…Metrion…Zinthos…Azarath…Metrion…"

It was then that she heard a small whimpering noise nearby. She opened one eye, catching a shadowy crouched figure a short distance away. Raven ceased meditation, touching down again to walk over to the figure, who cringed slightly once Raven neared.

"Timid…?" Raven asked, standing over the trembling, gray-cloaked girl. Timid looked up, her eyes unsure. Upon discovering that it was Raven, Timid stood up, clutching her cloak closed tight around her shoulders. Timid's face showed signs of deep worry.

"Timid…" Raven repeated. "What's happened?"

Timid simply shook her head slowly, signifying that she either did not know, or was too afraid to speak on it. Raven sighed, realizing that she probably wasn't going to get much from her.

"Have you seen Anger? I need to speak with her…" Raven said, trying to get _some_ information from the terrified girl. Timid then pointed a trembling finger farther down the path, to where a reddish black haze had formed around the far edge of it, quite a long distance away. Raven nodded, turning to start back down the path. She glanced back for but a moment, to see if Timid would join her.

"I'm…scared…" Timid said weakly, sitting back down on the ground to rest her back against a rocky outcropping. Whatever happened here had rattled her pretty bad…she probably wouldn't be moving from that spot for some time.

"_That's probably the safest place for her, anyway…_" Raven thought as she once again continued the long walk down the path, Timid's whimpers becoming too quiet and distant for Raven to hear anymore.

----------

Beast Boy hated this part. Those glowing black hands were always so rough with him. And then there was the tunnel. He always felt like he was going to hurl. He closed his eyes and endured, hoping the ride would be over soon. Before long, it was, as Beast Boy was thrown through the open portal to land face first on a familiar long, narrow strip of ground suspended in the air, which didn't seem to lead anywhere. Beast Boy stood, beginning to walk down the path. After a minute or so, he thought it weird how the birds with big red eyes lining the path were so oddly silent…he walked over to one, a puzzled look on his face.

"Hey…googly red-eyed bird thing! Shouldn't you be telling me to 'turn back' or something? You're creeping me out by not saying anything!"

Still, the birds remained silent, immobile. Finally, Beast Boy shrugged, wondering how he was going to get anywhere. Then he remembered…last time, they'd walked through one of those arches, and that led them to a different part of Nevermore… Beast Boy looked around, spotting one of the archways farther down the path. He ran over to it, stepping through. The portal rippled as he passed it.

Emerging on the other side, Beast Boy found himself standing on the outskirts of a monstrous stretch of dry land to explore, extending as far as he could see. He cautiously took a few tentative steps forward, looking for any signs of life. It was pretty quiet…save for a howling wind that passed through every now and again.

"_I wonder which one of 'em I'll run into first…"_

After a few minutes of walking, he came to a mountainous area, and could hear several loud crashing sounds from within. He decided to chance it, climbing one of the smaller hills for a better vantage point. He scanned the surface, looking for the source of the noise…soon he spotted a figure, way down below at ground level, punching at a rock wall. Beast Boy started to make his way down, the green-cloaked figure pausing momentarily upon becoming aware of his presence.

"Oh…it's you." It was Brave. She turned to look at him, placing her fists on her hips.

"Umm…hey…Green Raven." Beast Boy said, chuckling nervously as he slid the rest of the way down the hill on the soles of his shoes. He had to admit, Brave was one of his favorite sides of Raven, but she honestly scared him out of his wits sometimes. Well, Anger did too… "Were you just…punching a wall?" He smiled. "They don't hit back, ya know…"

Brave smirked, almost seeming to stare him down. "Ya caught me in the middle of a little training session I had going on…gotta keep gettin' stronger, know what I mean?" Beast Boy nodded with a half-smile, wondering where this was going.

"Anyway," Brave continued, "how'd you like to join me? Spar for a couple rounds?"

Beast Boy took a step back, obviously not fond of the idea. He glanced over at the wall she'd been attacking at earlier…it was riddled with cracks, splits, and gaping holes where she'd punched and kicked at it. He was amazed it was still standing. "Well, I, uh…you see, the thing is…"

"Oh, c'mon…" Brave insisted, pounding one of her fists into an open palm in anticipation. "Spar with me. It'll be fun! Let's see who's tougher!" She took a couple steps toward him, but for every step she took forward, Beast Boy took one backward.

Beast Boy shrugged, trying to weasel his way out. "To be honest, I don't think--"

"Let's go!" Brave continued to press the issue, a wild smirk on her face that clearly showed she was itching for a fight. "You and me. One on one. Mano a mano. **Green on green!**" Brave's smirk twisted upward just a bit more, giving her visage a slightly crazed look.

"…Unless you're feelin'…_yellow…_"

Beast Boy's expression faltered for just a moment, and his mouth hung open, as he pointed a finger at her.

"HEY! Now wait a sec…I never said anything about--"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt a crushing impact on his jaw. Brave had closed the distance between them in a split second, dashing to plant a strong right cross on Beast Boy's mouth. His entire head turned sideways with the force of the punch, his neck rolling out in a vain attempt to absorb some of the shock. The momentum lifted him from his feet, and he sailed through the air until his flight path was halted when his back sharply collided with a rock wall.

Beast Boy slid off the wall, landing on hands and knees.

"_That…was a cheap shot…_"

After violently shaking his head a few times to clear his vision, he looked up to see Brave shadowboxing, dancing about while throwing punches at the air, her cloak fluttering and flapping as it traced her movements. A few moments of this, and she stopped, looking at Beast Boy as she placed her hands on her hips again.

"HOO-AH! C'mon little man, show me what ya got!"

Beast Boy struggled to stand, but he saw Brave already sprinting to reach him again. While she was still some distance away, she leapt into the air, already coordinating her second attack.

"Taaaake….THIS!"

With a ferocious battlecry, Brave aimed a flying kick right for Beast Boy's head. Realizing the sense of danger, the young changeling quickly morphed into a leopard, bounding away from the rock wall just as Brave's kick slammed into it. Once Brave landed and stepped away from the wall, leopard Beast Boy saw a considerable crack where her foot had made contact. He growled and hissed at her, crouching low to the ground and baring fangs.

"Bad kitty…" Brave said, as she bent slightly at the knees and began slowly circling him with arms open, reminiscent of a wrestler. Suddenly, leopard Beast Boy roared, then lunged at her, claws extracted. Just what she wanted…

The green-cloaked girl stood firm as the mighty feline closed in, a deceptive smirk on her face. With a well-timed sidestep, she avoided the brunt of his charge, while wrapping her arms around his neck. Trapped in a headlock, leopard Beast Boy struggled to free himself while Brave bashed a fist into his nose. Immediately afterward, she turned sideways, using the momentum to throw him away in one continuous motion. He snarled angrily as Brave released him, detransforming to land on his rear, rubbing at his sore nose. Brave grinned arrogantly, full of herself.

"Hey, Weaksauce…I think that big rock over there puts up a better fight than you do!"

Beast Boy clenched his teeth as he stood again, quickly growing tired of Brave's gloating. Brave eyed him carefully, but still maintained her cocky attitude. Beast Boy stood feet slightly apart with his arms at his sides, eyes narrowed as he formulated a game plan.

"_Alright, G.I. Raven…you want a fight? I'll give you one…"_

----------

Author's Note: HOO-AH! lol…as Chapter 6 comes to a close, Raven (the regular, blue one) makes her way down the long path for a face-to-face confrontation with Anger…will she find out what's been bothering her for so long? Also, it seems our favorite changeling has found himself in a bit of a tough spot. Can he hold out against Brave's full-on assault? Find out next time!


	7. Internal Analysis, pt2

Author's Note: It is WAY too hard to get your fic to appear on the front page in the Teen Titans section…

Shout outs:

**Siberian-Tigress:** Thanks. More on the way. You hold up your end of the deal, and I'll be glad to hold up mine.

**evilsangle: **Ah well, thanks anyway for reading as much as you did.

**Kataphraktoi887:** (I think I got it right, lol) Glad you're likin' it so far. As for the low reviews…eh. It probably has something to do with how tough it is to get a fic to actually show up on the front page when you update it…when it doesn't, it barely gets noticed, unfortunately.

**AnimationWickedRaven:** Heh….so sorry about the cliffie, but I had to end it that way, otherwise, that chapter would've gotten way too long compared to the others. I think it worked out pretty well, though.

**Shades of Grey:** Thanks for the comments, and I do promise not to leave you hanging _too_ long…

Extra Disclaimer: Things I don't own: Teen Titans, the "mystery game" Cy's playing (well, I _do_ own a copy of the mystery game, but meh...) Things I do own: Any OCs that might happen to pop up, and I suppose the plot for this fic...

Anyway, let's get started.

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Chapter 7: Internal Analysis, pt.2

----------

Beast Boy and Brave stood in a tense face-off, neither one moving a muscle, each trying to wait the other one out, holding out for that one, critical mistake that could offer the upper hand. Though the intensity of the moment was palpable, the two fighters had completely different feelings toward the situation at hand. Both wore a look of fierce determination, but for different reasons.

Beast Boy, on the one hand, was finally deciding to take things a little more seriously after being forced into a scuffle he wasn't really looking to join. He'd already taken a couple painful shots, and he couldn't back down now without dishing out a few of his own. How did he get himself into this predicament, anyway? He'd only wanted to help Raven…not get pummeled into the ground by her. And now, it looked like she had it in for him.

Brave, on the other hand…well, she simply loved this. The entire experience, the thrill, the sheer sensation of it all.

The fight.

The rush of adrenaline from ramming a fist into someone's nose. The electric surge of power that emanated from the knuckles, coursing down through the arm on impact. The delightfully moist, crunching sound of a bone being snapped under the might of a powerful strike. She lived for this. She only wished Raven would let her enjoy it more often.

Of all Raven's emotions, Anger was probably the only one besides Brave who could be considered a "fighter." But even then, Brave enjoyed combat on an entirely different level. Anger simply relished causing pain to anyone and anything, but she had no appreciation for the finer details, the subtleties of the dance, the art form at its most visceral. She'd never even indulged Brave in a sparring match. But recently, Anger had been weakened, losing her lust for destruction…and Brave knew why. And now, Brave made it her personal mission to become stronger, stronger than she'd ever been before. The way things were going, it would be necessary for the survival of not just Brave herself, but for all of Nevermore. Not only that, it would be necessary for the survival of everyone Raven cared about, including Brave's current sparring partner.

And so, Brave gave it her all, behind her arrogant smirk, behind her callous taunts. She _had_ to. And as far as she was concerned, she hoped this match would make Beast Boy tougher, as well. He would need to be stronger for what was coming. They _all_ would need to be.

A howling wind picked up again as Brave and Beast Boy stood facing each other down, the wind ruffling Beast Boy's hair and playing at Brave's cloak.

"I didn't know this was gonna turn into a staring contest…" Brave jabbed, her smirk still amused. "…Or are you just gonna be my personal punching bag for today?"

"Heh." Beast Boy muttered as he began a slow-paced walk toward Brave, fists clenched. Brave did the same, the distance between the two dwindling down step by step as tension mounted on both sides.

"Aw…did I make you angry?" Brave said, as the two finally came face-to-face, standing just inches from each other. Since Brave was just a little taller, Beast Boy glared up at her, eyes narrowed.

"C'mon…" Beast Boy said, his voice determined as he quoted her phrase. "Let's see who's tougher."

"Sounds good to me!" Brave shouted, as she swiftly spun in place to aim a high roundhouse kick toward the side of Beast Boy's head. Moving on instinct alone, Beast Boy ducked under Brave's heel, quickly morphing into a goat. While she recovered from her missed attack, goat Beast Boy slammed his head into her stomach, knocking Brave down into a sitting position.

"Nice shot…" Brave quipped as she deftly rolled sideways to dodge another charge. As she quickly got back to her feet, she glanced over to see Beast Boy take the form of a bull, stamping an angry front hoof as he lowered his head.

"_I won't lose this fight…"_ bull Beast Boy thought as he let loose, charging with all his might down the path toward his opponent.

"_This is gonna be interesting, indeed…" _Brave thought as she prepared herself for her next move. She smiled, not a smile of arrogance, but one with a slightly more significant meaning as she steeled herself, planting her feet firmly on the ground, the bull rapidly closing in…

----------

How long had it been since Raven started walking this path? How long since she'd spoken with Timid? She honestly had no idea. But now, as she neared the outermost edge of the reddish black haze, she could feel the disturbance in the air as the winds grew stronger, seeming to come from the cloud itself.

Clutching her cloak closed tight near a shoulder, Raven made sure her hood was tightly secured on her head before she stepped into the haze, the force of the winds quickly multiplying. Though this was the thinnest part of the cloud, she strained to see inside, and it only grew thicker as she progressed. Her own curiosity pressed her onward as she began to make out a dark sphere in the middle of the storm, seemingly centered on the very edge of the platform.

"_Soon…_" Raven thought as she fought her way through the fierce winds toward the central sphere.

----------

Just as the mighty green bull neared her, Brave hopped straight up, bull Beast Boy catching nothing but the ends of her cloak as Brave flipped and turned in midair.

"TORO!" Brave yelled as she reached down, taking the bull horns tightly in her grasp. Brave landed on his back, riding for a few moments as the two of them neared another wall. Bull Beast Boy threw his head this way and that, trying desperately to fling Brave away from him, but she held fast. Brave crouched down on his back, curling her legs up before kick-jumping off him, backflipping away as Beast Boy careened right into the wall. The collision caused a deafening crash as Beast Boy crumpled against the wall, still in bull form. However, Brave didn't let up, flinging blasts of dark energy his way as she landed.

The first couple blasts missed their target and flew into the wall instead as Beast Boy quickly regained his composure, morphing into a raven himself as he took to the sky, ascending up the mountain. Brave continued to fire bolts of energy at him, grabbing her firing arm at the wrist with her free hand to steady her aim. Beast Boy swooped between the blasts, still traveling upward the whole time.

"I won't let you get away!" Brave yelled as she leapt upward, taking to flight herself in order to pursue him. Still taking potshots, Brave burst upward, quickly gaining on raven Beast Boy. Just then, Beast Boy saw a flat plateau near the top of the mountain, which led to a cave a little farther within. He detransformed to land on the plateau, but Brave was close behind, and she floated on, several feet above the platform as Beast Boy took a step backward.

Without warning, she nosedived, coming straight for him. Beast Boy hopped back to avoid a couple blasts of energy, then quickly took another backward step as Brave landed, aiming a punch for his head. Unrelenting, Brave threw several lightning-fast jabs, two of them hitting their mark before Beast Boy brought up his arms to block, forced into a backstep by Brave's continued offensive. It was all he could do to throw out an occasional retaliatory punch of his own between every flurry of attacks from Brave, but none of his counterattacks ever did hit the target. She didn't even give him enough time to transform into anything, as he had to concentrate too much on defending against her near-constant stream of furious strikes rather than think of some animal to change into that might help.

After a particularly powerful uppercut that forced Beast Boy's guard open, Brave stopped her rush briefly, and hopped into the air, preparing another spinning roundhouse. At the last moment, Beast Boy morphed into a turtle, ducking inside his shell for protection just as Brave's foot made contact with it, sending him hurtling into the dark cave. A small crack sound as turtle Beast Boy hit a wall inside, then silence. Brave hesitated for only a moment, then cautiously floated toward the cave's entranceway.

"Tired yet…?" Brave asked as she hovered at the shadowy mouth of the cave.

She wasn't expecting to be pounced on by an angry green rottweiler.

The vicious dog took her by complete surprise, using his weight to pin her to the ground, precariously close to the edge of the platform. He snarled and barked, snapping and clawing at her. Though Beast Boy managed to successfully scratch at her arms, ripping a bit of the cloth on her skin and her cloak, she held his jaws at bay by keeping a firm grip around his upper neck. In an attempt to get the mad dog off her, Brave tightened her strangle grip on his neck even more, charging her hands with dark energy. Rottweiler Beast Boy yelped as the energy burned at him, letting up just enough for Brave to place her feet on his stomach, rolling backward to flip him over the edge.

"_Guess not…"_

Not wasting a moment, Brave got back to her feet in an instant, hopping over the edge after Beast Boy. She accelerated, ramming both her fists into his stomach, knocking the wind from him before he could even detransform. With her fists firmly lodged in his midsection, she picked up even more speed, the two of them nearing the ground far below at an alarming rate. Brave grit her teeth as she prepared for impact. Though his eyes were closed, Beast Boy was faintly aware of the fact that he was in trouble. He just barely managed to shapeshift into an armadillo, the transformation itself painful because of Brave's fists still planted in his stomach.

A few moments later, and a thunderous boom reminiscent of a bomb detonating shook the entire area. An enormous plume of dust was kicked up.

Then silence again.

----------

Raven finally stood at the threshold of the dark sphere, taking just a few brief seconds to collect her thoughts before entering. Anger would be on the other side, and Raven was uncertain what would happen once she crossed over.

"_Time to find out."_

With that thought, Raven stepped into the sphere, prepared to endure the strongest forces yet. She was met with a bit of a surprise as she found the air eerily calm, perfectly still. Inside the sphere, it was almost as if the raging storm outside it didn't even exist, wind and noise blocked out by the sphere's dark walls. Raven's gaze shifted from the sphere itself to the figure who stood at the very tip of the platform they were standing on. It was Anger. Raven remained tacit, taking a few steps toward Anger. Anger's back was facing Raven, so Raven had no idea what to expect.

"…Leave…" Anger said without moving, her voice faint. Raven had to strain her ears to hear Anger, even though the air was still, the area inside the sphere otherwise completely silent. Raven heard the warning, but she would not heed it. At least, not yet. She wanted to know what was going on.

"Anger…" Raven ventured, making sure her voice was calm, non-threatening. She took a few more steps toward Anger. As she got closer, Raven noticed that Anger's cloak was ripped in a few places. She began to wonder if there were any bruises or scars anywhere underneath the cloak as well.

"Leave me…" Anger said just a little louder, her red cloak closed around her body. Why was she like this? What happened to her? Raven still refused to back down, coming even closer to Anger until she was only a few feet or so away.

"Anger, listen to me…I want you to te--"

"**LEAVE ME!**" Anger loudly screamed, as a partitioning black wall of energy suddenly sprang up from the ground immediately behind Anger, morphing into the shape of a raven as it curved around her, isolating Raven on the other side. Raven's eyes widened a bit, and she stood motionless for a few moments. Anger remained still, a statue on the edge of the platform. Raven gasped quietly, then slowly turned and began to make her way back out. If Timid wouldn't talk…and Anger wouldn't talk…she'd need to find someone who would.

----------

Back at Titans Tower, a fully-repaired Cyborg sat on the couch of the Tower's main room, playing Gamestation on the big-screen TV. Cyborg leaned left and right with the motions of his in-game character, mashing on the buttons as the black-clad character dashed about a cave-like area, running on walls and slashing at demons. It seemed he was unstoppable as he'd already outran a huge boulder, _and_ defeated a giant bone dragon. And now, he used his sword to cut a swath through wave after wave of demon footsoldiers, all the while traversing deeper into the cave. Suddenly, the sound of a wooden support breaking as a huge wave of water came crashing down the narrow passage behind the hero. Cyborg was unfazed, as he was soon able to swim out of the flooded cave to an elevator that took his character up and up until he emerged in a monastery.

"_And they said this was supposed to be one of the hardest games of all time…"_ Cyborg thought with a smirk.

After dispatching a few more minions, Cyborg led his character out into the main hall of the monastery. Just as Cyborg's in-game character had hopped down to the main floor, a huge, purple, female demon suddenly burst forth from the stained glass window. Cyborg engaged the creature, but she proved much too strong for him, quickly depleting his health bar down to nothing with a few well-placed attacks.

Game over.

Cyborg held the controller numbly in his hands, his expression blank as Starfire walked up behind him.

"Please…where is everyone?" Starfire asked. When Cyborg didn't answer right away, she maneuvered around the couch so that she could see his face. Then she realized what had just happened as she glanced up at the TV.

"Oh…you have gotten the 'Game Over'…that is…the bad screen, yes?"

Cyborg nodded, groaning slightly, his eyes still unfocused.

"…Then, you must try again, with renewed vigor!" Starfire said, attempting to bring his spirits back up with her optimism. Cyborg finally looked at her, and her encouraging gaze strengthened him, until he had the willpower to press the 'Continue' button. Within moments, heads were literally rolling as Cyborg's character was back, busting up demons.

"Oh, yeah…" Cyborg said, remembering Starfire's question from earlier. "Raven's probably holed up in her room. I honestly don't know where BB is…" Cyborg chuckled. "He might've gone back out for more pizza. As for Robin…he said he wanted to take a look at a few things, so he's either in the Vault, or maybe up in his room looking at newspaper clippings or something."

Starfire gave a nod, then turned and left Cyborg to his game. Cyborg's smirk returned as the purple demon once again burst through the window. This time he'd be a bit more careful.

----------

Brave got to her feet, and dusted herself off as the giant smoke cloud began to settle, standing over a fallen Beast Boy. He lay sprawled on his back, at the center of a small crater. The armadillo shell probably protected his back quite a bit, but he still felt intense pain as he detransformed, his face twisted in agony. He groaned faintly, trying to move. Was his back broken? He didn't think so…but it still hurt every time he tried to rise. Brave glared down at him, eyes narrowed, silent for a few moments. Then she shot a hand out, flashing a 'V' for victory sign.

"OWNED!" she yelled, a wide grin replacing her scowl. She turned around, and began walking away. "_Maybe next time…_"

But he couldn't just lay there…he couldn't allow himself to admit defeat…

"_No…I can't let it end like this!"_ Beast Boy thought, trying desperately to find the strength to stand again.

"This…isn't….over…yet!"

Brave halted when she heard the voice behind her. She glanced back to see Beast Boy wearily getting back to his feet, his arms hanging loosely as his upper body leaned slightly forward. His teeth were tightly clenched, his breath labored and heaving. Brave smiled again, glad Beast Boy wasn't willing to quit. She turned to face him, easing down into a fighting stance.

"_Heh…guess you're tougher than I thought, little man…"_

----------

By this time, Raven had made her way back out of the haze, back up the path the way she came. She paused at a forking pathway, glancing both ways. She'd come from the left path…Timid was still up there, most likely. Raven took the right path, eventually coming to an archway portal that led her to a park-like area. She walked through the grass, the sound of the nearby stream calming her. Soon, she saw who she'd been looking for: Wisdom sat on a small park bench.

Though Raven had only intended to speak with Wisdom, she was surprised to see others here, as well. Wisdom was engaged in a game of chess with Knowledge. Happy sat at the edge of a nearby pier, humming a tune to herself as she dangled her legs in the water. Rude lay across an entire park bench, an arm hanging over the top part of the bench and one leg dangling over the side as she snored loudly. Raven glanced at all of them, then made her way over to Wisdom.

"So, you've finally decided to come…" Wisdom said, as her eyes scanned the entire chessboard, looking for one particular move. "…I know why you're here. I think there's something you should see…" She found her move, using a little bit of dark energy to slide a rook a few squares to the left.

"Checkmate."

Wisdom stood, and Knowledge did likewise, adjusting her glasses. Rude woke up groggily as Happy skipped over to join them. As Wisdom led the group down a brick road toward another archway, Rude yawned, reaching behind to scratch at her rear.

" 'Bout time you showed up…"

The group moved through the portal, emerging on a giant, inverted triangle-shaped asteroid. Raven looked around as the others gave her a bit of room. The sky still looked the same, the ground was flat…but there was a large hole in the ground, right at the center of the platform.

----------

Brave locked arms with gorilla Beast Boy in a massive power struggle. Both fighters dug their feet firmly into the ground, each attempting to muster up every ounce of their might. Even with the immense strength of a gorilla at his disposal, Beast Boy was amazed at how well Brave still held her own against him, returning his powerful grip with one of her own. Brave smirked, thinking she'd try her idea from earlier again. She channeled dark energy into her hands, but Beast Boy caught on quick and flung her entire body skyward. Caught off-guard, Brave flailed through the air for a few seconds as Beast Boy leapt up after her, morphing into a falcon.

Brave regained control just as falcon Beast Boy reached her, and she aimed a forceful kick at him. The small falcon dodged it, swooping in close and then a little above Brave. Brave slightly turned in air to glance up, and she saw a green kangaroo curled up in a tight ball, its feet dangerously close to her back. She went wide-eyed, but it was too late as kangaroo Beast Boy unloaded all that pent-up fury upon her back, fully extending his legs as Brave was sent crashing downward. She was unable to recover in time to save herself, and smashed facefirst into the ground. She groaned, rolling over once so that she was lying on her back. When she looked up again, she saw Beast Boy take the form of a pterodactyl, swooping down into a nosedive of his own.

In an effort to defend herself, Brave thrust both arms upward, firing off rapid-fire dark energy blasts. Pterodactyl Beast Boy avoided these effortlessly, bringing his wings in close as he started a spiral to build up speed. Just before he landed, Beast Boy turned in air and morphed into a hippopotamus, the added weight slamming down on Brave full-force. There hippo Beast Boy lay on his back for a few moments, wondering if it was over yet. A slight shifting underneath him told him otherwise. Then he heard a mighty yell, and all his weight was lifted from the ground, Brave's hands clutching his back tightly. Though her face was strained, and her body trembled, the green-cloaked girl stood, holding hippo Beast Boy up on her own strength.

"_No…WAY…"_ hippo Beast Boy thought, not believing what this girl was doing. With another yell, she threw him directly into the rock wall. Beast Boy stayed in hippo form as he smacked into the wall, the entire thing trembling just a bit. Hippo Beast Boy looked up at the rock wall as it buckled, a sly idea forming in his head. As Brave sprinted toward him, he morphed into a grizzly, standing on his hind legs as Brave dashed at him, aiming a flying kick his way.

Grizzly Beast Boy brought up his powerful arms, crossing them at his chest to defend himself. As he blocked the kick, the impact pushed his back into the wall again, causing the thing to buckle once more. Brave didn't notice as she hammered at him with her fists, each attack weakening the wall a little more. Grizzly Beast Boy held out, blocking the onslaught of attacks until a faint cracking sound above them told him the time was right. Without warning, Beast Boy detransformed, catching one of Brave's punches to pull her into the wall, Beast Boy himself transforming into a cheetah. Without hesitation, cheetah Beast Boy bounded away at top speed, as Brave still leaned against the wall for support. She looked at him quizzically, wondering what he was doing. Then she heard a thunderous noise above her.

She looked up, to see a huge portion of the rock wall break off, boulders hurtling toward her. She threw her arms up in response, but it was in vain as the heavy rocks tumbled down onto her, burying her under all their weight. Beast Boy detransformed as he looked at the results of his plan…the rocks were piled high, and he could see Brave's head and shoulders protruding out one corner of the pile, her eyes closed. Beast Boy smirked as he turned his back.

"Looks like you underestimated me…" Beast Boy said as he left the area. Once she was sure he was far enough away, Brave opened her eyes, beginning to dig her way out of the pile. She couldn't help but grin.

"_Heh…There may be hope for you yet…"_

----------

Raven walked up to the hole, peering down into it. It was pitch black inside.

"What happened here…?" She asked as she turned back to the emotions. Wisdom spoke up.

"There was…another…" the brown-cloaked girl said, her eyes distant. Raven shook her head, wondering what she was talking about.

"Apparently, Trigon had one more trick up his sleeve…" the bespectacled, yellow-cloaked Knowledge said.

"What do you mean…?" Raven asked.

"You remember when you cleansed the world of Trigon's evil?" Knowledge asked, to which Raven nodded.

"Turns out Pops was a sore loser." Rude spat. Happy chimed in, a smile on her face despite the seriousness of the situation. "After you beat him, another one of us popped up outta that hole there."

"What?" Raven said, incredulous. "But there are only eight--"

"Nine, now." Knowledge corrected, as she adjusted her glasses again.

"But how is that possible?" Raven asked, making sure to keep traces of worry out of her voice. "I cleansed _myself_ of his evil, too."

"That was what we believed…" Wisdom said, her gaze fixed on the red stars above. "But your efforts only awakened Strife."

"Strife…" Raven repeated.

"She wears a black cloak," Happy said, "four red eyes, like Anger…you know, all 'gloom and doom.' She's actually even worse than Anger."

"Didn't anyone try to stop her?" Raven asked. "…What about An--"

"We tried…" Rude said, scratching at her hair under the hood of her orange cloak. "She was just too damn good."

"Yup…" Happy agreed, the pink-cloaked girl deciding to tell the tale, gesturing with her hands the entire time. "Ya see, Miss 'I Hate You All' came through that hole, right? Then she went through that portal there, trying to leave. We tried to stop her, we all did. Honest. Well, except for Timid. I think she was cowering in a corner somewhere. But black-cloak just brushed us aside, like we were nothing. Then Brave stepped up, all 'I'm gonna kick your ass, beeyotch', but she got smacked around, too. I was surprised when that happened, really. The only one left to do anything about it was Anger, and she was all like 'Grrrr' but then she got owned, too. She's actually been pretty down about it for a while now. After that, black-cloak just up and left."

"Left Nevermore?" Raven asked. "But how? I would've known…"

"The nightmares you've been having…" Knowledge said. "The ones you haven't told anyone else about. That's when she escaped."

"But the mirror…" Raven mused.

"Didn't need it." Rude interrupted. "Chick literally came out of your head."

Raven took a step back toward the portal, eyes widened. "This…is bad."

"Duh…" Happy said, rolling her eyes.

Raven looked at the four of them, finally realizing that after encountering Timid and Anger, a couple were still missing.

"Where are the others?" Raven asked.

"Brave took it upon herself to increase her training regimen. She's probably off bench-pressing something." Knowledge said.

"You saw Anger, right?" Happy said. "She's skulking alone somewhere."

"Timid's still scared as a mouse." Rude said.

"We have not seen Affection since the incident." Wisdom said.

"I…think it's time for me to go." Raven said, turning around to walk back through the portal.

"…Make sure you take your friend with you before you go." Knowledge called after her.

"…_Friend?_" Raven thought. "_What did she…?_"

----------

Beast Boy had found another portal, one different from the one he used to enter the mountainous area. He used it, finding himself in a large clearing. He stood in a field of grass, surrounded by tall forest trees under a twilight sky. Beast Boy groaned.

"Argh…Am I _ever_ gonna find Raven?"

Off at the far end of the clearing, Beast Boy spotted a small cabin, smoke curling up from the chimney. Shrugging, he started walking toward it. He could see that the lights were on from the windows, but they seemed pretty dim. When he reached the door, Beast Boy rapped lightly on it.

"Umm…Raven…? You in there?"

No response. He tried the doorknob. Surprisingly, it was unlocked. He opened it, the door creaking slightly as he did so. He cleared his throat, stepping inside cautiously. As soon as he was inside, the door shut on its own behind him, startling Beast Boy as he hopped away from it.

"Uh…hello…?" Beast Boy said nervously. He looked around the room. It was actually quite lavishly decorated for such a small cabin…purple and gold themed, expensive looking furniture lining the walls…and the sound of a flute coming from somewhere inside. The sound seemed to soothe him, to make him forget about all the bruises he'd just acquired fighting Brave. Beast Boy absent-mindedly wandered a little farther into the cabin, almost feeling as though he weren't in control of his own body. Soon, he came to a bedroom, and some strange perfume began to waft its way into his nostrils. He stepped into the room, the music also growing louder. The bed looked very comfortable, inviting…suddenly, the lights dimmed even more.

Beast Boy was broken from his trance when he heard the sound of someone behind him. He whipped around, making out a figure who slowly emerged from the shadows. She wore a dark cloak.

"Raven…?" Beast Boy asked. The light was too dim for him to tell that the figure wore a purple cloak, not a blue one.

"Hey there, big boy…" the girl said, her voice soft, sultry. She stood in the doorway, then turned sideways to lean up against the doorframe, striking a lustful pose that accentuated all her curves.

"Er…" Beast Boy muttered, taking a step back. Affection entered the room, walking toward Beast Boy seductively.

"Aw…got a few bruises? Come here, let me make it all better…"

Beast Boy took a few more backward steps, not realizing he was moving closer to the bed the entire time. "Raven? What are you--"

He then tripped over a small table, just as Affection lunged for him in a half-tackle, the two of them landing on the bed. Affection pinned him down at the shoulders with her arms, slowly mounting him. He tried to push her off, but he was too weak after his battle with Brave, and nearly everything he moved ached terribly. Soon, he realized that this wasn't Raven per se, but another of her many emotions. As he recalled, he hadn't had the "pleasure" of making her acquaintance last time he and Cyborg came to Nevermore.

"Umm, listen…" Beast Boy said, uttering a small "eep" as he squirmed underneath her. "This isn't right…Purple Raven, I really don't think this is a good idea…what about Ter--"

"Shhh…" Affection silenced him by placing a forefinger over his mouth. She then leaned in close, her face only inches from his. She closed her eyes, as her soft, pale lips gently brushed against his…suddenly, Affection's entire body glowed with black energy. She was forced to release Beast Boy as she levitated into the air. The bedroom door burst open, and Raven stormed into the room, saying nothing, stomping each step.

"Oh…hey Rae--OW!"

Beast Boy glanced up to see her, just as she shot a hand out, grabbing him by an ear. Beast Boy yelled in pain as she yanked him to his feet, her right eye twitching again as she dragged him back toward the door.

"Raven!" Beast Boy shouted. "It…it's not what it looks like!"

Beast Boy glanced back to see the black energy formerly enveloping Affection dissipate, the purple-cloaked girl falling back onto the bed. She laid there sensually, gesturing at Beast Boy as Raven led him out.

"Come back and see me some time…"

Back outside the cabin, Raven continued to drag Beast Boy through the portal, still not speaking as she brought him back, past the other emotions. Happy smiled and waved when she saw Beast Boy.

"Hey, BB!" she said, as she and the others watched Raven drag him on. He waved back weakly, as he caught sight of Brave, standing off to the side, arms folded. He trembled slightly, hoping she wasn't looking for Round 2. However, she smirked at him, flashing a thumbs up as Raven led him on, all the way to the Forbidden Door. For some reason, Beast Boy had a sneaking suspicion they'd have no trouble at all getting through…

----------

Back at the Tower, Starfire hovered through the hallways, until she came to the doorway to Robin's room. She hesitated briefly, then knocked. She smiled as the door opened to reveal Robin looking at her.

"Starfire…what's up?"

"Oh…Robin, I came simply to…talk, if that is alright…"

Robin shrugged, then beckoned her inside. "Sure. Whatever you want, Star..."

Starfire followed him into the room, looking about. "What were you doing?"

Robin sighed. "Trying to figure things out…like always."

Robin went over to his desk, picking up a newspaper clipping. He handed it to her, and she held it in both hands, glancing down to read it:

* * *

**MASTER THIEF SWIPES AGAIN**

Local enigma Red X steals from Wayne Enterprises

Jump City-- 'To Catch a Thief' – It's been proving quite difficult lately, for everyone. The Jump City Police Department is at wits end trying to corral the unruly kleptomaniac. It even seems as though Jump City's resident adolescent crimefighting team, the Teen Titans, have been unsuccessful as of yet in apprehending the thief, despite multiple encounters. And when an item worth millions suddenly disappears, everyone wants answers.

(insert photo of the Titans fighting Red X in the vault at Wayne Enterprises, photo taken by an on-duty security guard)

caption reads: **Even Jump City's Finest may be no match for Red X.**

Last night at approximately 1:17a.m., a distress signal went out at Wayne Enterprises, alerting police as well as the Teen Titans. The Titans were the first to arrive at the scene, engaging Red X in full, however--

* * *

Starfire stopped reading at that point.

She glanced up again to meet Robin's gaze. "Robin…it is alright. We _will_ stop the Red X."

Robin sighed, looking away at the wall, which had several more similar news clippings plastered all over it. "I know, Star…I know. But it seems like he's always two steps ahead….every time…"

Robin's fists clenched, and a slight scowl found its way onto his face. No matter how many times Robin and Red X met in battle, Robin could never truly beat him. Things always ended in a stalemate. It was like Red X already knew all Robin's tricks beforehand, just as Robin knew all Red X's capabilities in the suit. No matter what Robin did, Red X was always able to find some way to escape Robin's clutches. "Every time…"

Starfire stepped forward, placing a hand on his shoulder. "The Red X may be crafty, but he is not invincible. You are as clever as he, and I am certain that soon, you will discover a method for apprehending him that will not fail."

Robin turned slightly to glance sideways at her, his scowl giving way to a half-smile. "Thanks Starfire…for believing in me."

She smiled back at him, just as Cyborg appeared in the doorway. He had a look of seriousness on his face. "Robin…you got a call."

Robin brushed past Starfire, his smile quickly vanishing as he exited the room, the other two following him.

"…X?" Robin asked, not looking back. Cyborg didn't answer. As the three Titans made their way back to the main room. A masked face was shown on the TV. It wasn't Red X on the other end, but the face, the voice, made Robin cringe inside. The Boy Wonder grit his teeth in unbridled rage as he stared up at the screen. The face glared back down at him, the familiar voice that he'd grown to hate so much echoing throughout his mind.

"Hello, Robin…"

----------

Author's Note: Whooo…Chapter 7 is out of the way. Good thing, too, 'cuz things are gonna get intense. Raven's finally learned what's been nagging at her, and Beast Boy has had _quite_ an adventurous day. Now there's yet another threat to worry about…and besides that, the call to Titans Tower can't be anything good…what does _he_ want? You'll have to wait 'till next chap!

BTW…bonus points to anyone who knows what game Cyborg was playing, lol…


	8. Controlled Chaos

Author's Note: First things first, I really apologize about the (considerable) delay, and updates might end up becoming a bit less frequent with school, work and whatnot. Regardless, I still fully intend on seeing this project through to the end. Oh and yes, many thanks for the reviews I've received in the meantime. I appreciate it, and I'll reply to every single one from here on (especially since my little 'shout out' section is no longer allowed --() )

On a side note, I'm still wondering a bit about the exact placement of this fic within the timeline, given all the stuff that's happened in Season 5 since I first started. After seeing a couple key scenes from specific parts of Season 5, I'm thinking this fic should actually take place _after _Season 5 (rumblings of the cancellation of Season 6 notwithstanding…)

Ok, enough of that…here we go.

----------

Chapter 8: Controlled Chaos

----------

"Well, well, Robin….hard at work as always, I see."

The stark two-toned mask was displayed on the enormous screen, against a black background, the single eye boring deep into Robin's very soul. The Boy Wonder stood with muscles tense, his hands tightly clasping the top of the couch as he stood behind it, leaning forward to meet the villain's gaze with one of his own. Cyborg and Starfire stood behind him, side-to-side as they also looked up at the screen, though Robin's facial expression held more distrust, more contempt, and more pure anger than both of them combined. Robin's eyes narrowed and his teeth clenched as his facial features increasingly became more rigid, his grip on the couch tightening by the second.

"Slade…" Robin barely uttered through his scowl. It had been many months since the Titans last crossed paths with Slade. Though they still dealt with the small-time criminals every now and again, things almost seemed downright peaceful by comparison with Slade out of action. Well, it seemed that way to everyone except Robin. Even though they all knew it'd only be a matter of time before Slade made his dramatic reappearance, Robin was the only one who'd remained vigilant in the attempt to track him down. Although, Robin's efforts proved futile…even Cyborg, who was capable of using astonishing cutting-edge equipment, had given up much earlier. When Slade wanted to disappear, he made sure there were no traces left to track.

Slade had decided to lay low ever since he'd regained his life after the deal with Trigon went south. However, being the ever-cunning conniver that he was, Slade managed to turn the situation slightly more in his favor by taking "specific" advantage of the various powers temporarily granted to him. Though said powers were no longer within his repertoire, he no longer needed them. In fact, he'd found quite an interesting use for them during the brief time that he still had control over them. An interesting use that would make things harder all around for the Titans.

"…Always trying to figure out the angle…" Slade continued, sounding nearly oblivious to Robin's rage. Slade's voice was calm as ever. "…Always studying, contemplating…you know, you really should get out more."

Slade's mask was unmoving. He looked only at Robin, as if Cyborg and Starfire weren't even there. Robin was already tiring of their conversation.

"What do you want?" Robin demanded, in as irritated a tone as he could muster.

"Straight to the point, eh Robin?" Slade's reply remained clam, measured, however his voice belied just a bit of amusement as his mask leaned in slightly closer to the screen. Almost taunting, in his own unique way. "No burning questions about my triumphant return to the land of the living? Not even a 'how do you do'? You're becoming more like your mentor every day, you know."

Robin shook off Slade's last comment, keeping his focus squarely on the villain displayed before him.

"What is it, then, Slade?" Robin asked, impatience wearing his expression thin. "Back to old tricks? Some new weapon you plan to try out?"

"Something like that…" Slade replied, while leaning in just a touch closer. "…But you'll find out soon enough, clever as you are…my former apprentice."

Those last three words elicited a renewed spark of rage from Robin as they cut through the airwaves, the words themselves almost feeling like a shot to the ribs as they instantly brought to mind Robin's time working for Slade. Robin's arms began lightly trembling due to the strength of his grip on the couch.

"…**_Don't_** call me that." Robin said coldly, the built-up hostility expressed in his voice slightly startling Starfire, who momentarily looked away from the screen to glance at Robin.

"Robin…" She barely whispered. Her emerald eyes softened for a moment with concern for her friend, but they narrowed again when she then continued to watch Slade up on the screen.

"Oh, come now," Slade said, feigning offense in a way that was obviously meant to mock. "You can't possibly still hold a grudge after all we've been through together. Do you not remember the hordes we crushed, fighting side-by-side? We formed quite the formidable duo, as I recall."

"A grudge?" Robin asked, making no attempt to hide the sarcasm in his voice. "That's always been _your_ thing."

"Touché."

----------

In Raven's room, Beast Boy lay on his side on the floor, tending to his sore ear, only the most recent of his various bruises. Raven hovered a couple inches above the floor, her back to him as she replaced the magic mirror on the dresser. Of course, given all the events of earlier, Beast Boy had a lot of things on his mind…a lot of things he wanted to ask Raven about. However, as it stood, she _still _hadn't spoken a word since she'd found him, and the prospect of trying to draw a conversation out of Raven while she was in her current mood didn't seem to be among the best of ideas. But still, Beast Boy somehow managed to gather up the courage required to speak.

"You know…" Beast Boy said, while turning to look at her, "…you didn't have to drag me the whole way back. That really hurt…"

"…Trust me, you deserved it." Raven said, still facing the dresser. "I told you, let _me_ handle my own--"

"I know…" Beast Boy said as he rolled his eyes with a small sigh. "Nobody goes in your room, nobody goes in your mind, your stuff's off-limits…look, I'm sorry for all that, and…"

As Beast Boy went on, he was surprised when he looked back to see Raven looking directly at him. That in itself wasn't what surprised him, but rather her facial expression startled him. In it, Beast Boy saw a mix of apprehension, anxiety, and fear. He could tell she was trying to conceal it somewhat, but her amethyst eyes were a giveaway. Upon meeting her gaze, Beast Boy sat up, suddenly feeling concern.

"I'm sorry, Beast Boy…" Raven said, still trying to maintain her monotone, though her facial expression already conveyed her real feelings. "I know you only had good intentions. You truly wanted to help me..."

"Of course I did!" Beast boy said, shooting his arms outward in a gesture meant to convey his emotion. "Raven, you're my friend. That means I got your back, no matter what. You know that. Come rain or sleet or psycho fire-breathing mole-people, I'll be here. And I'm not the only one."

Raven's partially concealed apprehension began to diminish as she allowed herself to smile a half-smile at him. Though it had truly taken a considerable amount of time as well as a serious effort on her part to grow accustomed to her friends (_especially_ Beast Boy; she was still working at it to be honest) it eventually become easier for her to coexist, to tolerate the varying personalities which had left her feeling so isolated when the team first came together.

"Thank you for that." Raven said, nodding slightly. Beast Boy stood, no longer tending to his ear, but rather rubbing at the side of his jaw where a small bruise mark from Brave was still present, a coy smirk across his face. He really wanted to ask about Purple Raven… and yet, he still hadn't worked up the nerve to ask Raven directly. So he attempted to work his way around to it.

"Although, you can hold your own pretty good…" Beast Boy said with a chuckle. "Heck of a punch you've got…well, the green you, anyway."

Raven smirked. "Like I said, you deserved it."

"Heh…" Beast Boy flashed a toothy smirk. "…If she's ever lookin' for a rematch…"

"You'll be the first to know." Raven assured him. She knew Brave held back in that little spar, though. Otherwise, Beast Boy'd probably be in a coma right now.

Beast Boy cleared his throat, preparing himself to say what had been on his mind. She was still looking at him, which threw off his concentration a little bit, but he shrugged off any hint of suspicion by giving Raven a reassuring smile. She took some secret solace in it, but her expression from earlier still nagged at Beast Boy.

"Heh heh…umm…Raven…there _aren't_ any psycho fire-breathing mole-people coming, right?"

Raven broke eye contact with him, turning to face the door.

"No…something worse. Something…_terrible_."

Beast Boy eyed Raven quizzically, one eyebrow raised.

"Huh…? What do you mean? What's coming, Rae…?"

Raven was silent for a several moments, and she could literally feel Beast Boy's gaze on the back of her head. She turned her head only slightly, glancing at him from the corner of her eye.

"Me…" She said softly.

Without another word, she turned back, leaving Beast Boy behind as she headed off into the darkness of the hallway. Beast Boy's brow furrowed as he watched her go. He still hadn't moved from the floor.

"You…?"

With that, he stood, making his way out into the hall to follow Raven.

"Hey! Wait up!" he called as he went.

----------

Back in the main room of the Tower, Robin was trying his hardest to keep his emotions in check. He'd been doing a poor job of it so far.

"…If it weren't for my help, you never would've saved Raven." Slade remarked, very matter-of-factly. "You do know that, don't you?"

"You're wrong, Slade…" Robin said, his voice taut.

"Am I?"

"I would've found a way…I would've saved her…with, or without your help."

In the adjacent hallway, Raven could begin to hear Robin and Slade's exchange. Upon hearing the last bit, she halted in midair, eyes slightly widened as Beast Boy nearly ran into her from trying to keep up.

"How typical of you Robin…" Slade interjected, his tone now becoming analytical, but in Slade's own condescending way. "A boy with the weight of the world on his shoulders…however, you fail to see the bigger picture. You want to save this world, to protect every person who inhabits it…you think yourself a shining savior to these hapless citizens, this meaningless city of yours. The fact that you aspire to such goals on your own merits is…commendable, but you are not without flaws, Robin. I believe we've established this fact already. You march readily into every battle--"

"But I'm not alone." Robin interrupted, cutting off Slade's lecture. At this point, Raven and Beast Boy joined the other three Titans in the main room.

"He's right." Cyborg pitched in, supporting his friend. "We're here too. All of us. When the baddies show up, we're gonna stand--"

"--And we will **fight.**" Starfire finished his sentence, green energy flaring up in her eyes for just a moment.

"Every time!" Beast Boy chimed in, as if he'd been standing there all along. Raven couldn't help but roll her eyes.

"Cute..." Slade said, before his voice grew just a touch harsher. "…But not enough. Until you understand this simple truth, you will never realize your true potential, Robin."

"Even if I never realize my 'true potential'…" Robin said, sounding as though he was beginning to calm down as a hint of a smirk crossed his face, "…I'm still more than good enough to take you down."

"I admire your candor. And I would be more than willing to test your mettle in combat one more time…" Slade's mask leaned in closer to the screen. "…But it seems you're a bit...busy at the moment."

Robin and the other Titans looked questioningly at Slade. A few moments later, a semi-transparent projection map of Jump City appeared on the screen before Slade's mask, a blinking red dot suddenly activating near the downtown district, accompanied by the familiar flashing red lights and alarms sounding throughout the Tower to indicate trouble. A few seconds later, and more red blips popped up at various points around the city, one by one. Slade's mask then pulled back from the screen, farther and farther until it was completely enveloped in shadow.

"He's had _way_ too much free time…" Raven mused, arms folded as she glared up at the screen.

"And we've got work to do." Robin said firmly.

----------

Once the Titans crossed the bay back into the city, Robin issued orders to his team.

"Titans, split up! First, I need--"

"Split up?" Beast Boy interrupted, an incredulous look on his face. "Are you crazy? Did you SEE how many little blip thingies there were? Besides, there's no telling when Slade could pop up…if we all split up, then it'll be easier for him to--"

"There's too many of them for us to handle this any other way." Robin said, his gaze looking off to the skyscrapers in the distance. "I don't want anyone getting hurt. Cyborg, take the electronics district. Beast Boy, check the pier. Starfire, head to the park. Raven, I need you at the warehouses up north."

"And you?" Cyborg inquired.

"I'll take the rest." Robin said, as he throttled the R-Cycle. "Titans, move!"

With that, Robin peeled off into the city, the other Titans heading off to their own destinations as they were told.

----------

At the park, Starfire hovered slightly above the treetops, looking for any signs of a disturbance. It seemed quiet enough…and she often enjoyed the tranquility of the park. Though in her mind, no place could compare to the beauty of Tameran, she found herself growing more and more fond of the things Earth had to offer. And it wasn't just the scenery…indeed, there was something she found here that she would've readily abandoned Tameran for in a heartbeat…

Starfire's musings were cut short by the sound of a young girl screaming. Jolted back into the situation, Starfire bounded off, traveling through the air as fast as she could toward the sound. Soon, she saw the source; a man in a black tuxedo with a wand and top hat had a young girl cornered against the lake. The girl held a small kitten in her ams. As the man reached for a gaudy necklace the girl wore, he was forced to jump back when Starfire fired a few warning bolts in his direction. She landed nearby, hands and eyes glowing emerald green. Since he still faced in the opposite direction, Starfire couldn't see his face.

"You will leave her alone!"

The man was quick to react, producing a red rose from within his tuxedo.

"Ah, mademoiselle…" he said, turning to offer the flower to Starfire, his head bowed so she still couldn't see his face. She looked at the rose, slightly confused by the man's behavior. When he finally glanced up at her, she instantly recognized him.

"You are…the Mumbo Jumbo, correct?

The blue-faced clown grinned. "The one and only!"

Without warning, the red rose squirted a purplish fluid, aimed straight for Starfire. She gasped, eyes widened, though she was unable to dodge before the fluid made contact, instantly sticking, expanding, and lifting her from her feet, carrying her with it until it slammed into a nearby tree. Starfire's back collided with the tree with a loud thud, and the young girl only looking on in fear. Mumbo cackled, twirling his magic wand about in the air. Starfire struggled against the bonds, but they held fast.

"Well, that was easy." Mumbo remarked, amazed at his own handiwork. The bonds were strong…but Starfire knew she could break them if she concentrated her strength. She began covertly collecting Starbolt energy in her hands as she bided her time.

"Why do you attack the girl and her small cat?" Starfire asked. The kitten rolled its eyes.

"This is my boyfriend!" The girl yelled out. "That clown changed him into a cat!"

"That's right…" Mumbo said. "Normally I'm just content to rob a place…clown's gotta eat, ya know. But then I spied that majestic necklace adorned on that young girl there, and I just HAD to have it! Of course, the beau wasn't too fond of the idea…so I had to show 'em a little of the good ol' Mumbo magic!" Speaking of the necklace…I'll be taking it now."

Mumbo turned back to the girl, threatening once again to steal the necklace. The girl's kitten/boyfriend hissed, pawing and scratching at Mumbo's arm. Mumbo yelped, hopping back again.

"Still got some fight in you, eh? I'll fix that…"

Although by now, the energy Starfire collected had melted away a significant portion of the bonds, and with a fierce yell, she broke free, bounding off the tree trunk low to the ground, preparing to fire more Starbolts at Mumbo. He turned just as she broke free, a look of slight fear on his face, although it quickly melted into an arrogant smirk. He began waving his wand in a strange fashion.

"Mumbo…Jumbo!"

An instant later, a wall of giant playing cards sprang up from the ground, circling Mumbo and his prey in a house of cards, with Starfire isolated on the outside. Starfire shot a wave of Starbolts into the wall, but they simply exploded harmlessly against it, not even leaving so much as a scorch mark. Starfire halted in air upon reaching the wall, and placed both hands on it. She heard the young girl inside scream again, along with another cackle from Mumbo. Starfire growled, digging her fingers into the earth just under the wall. With another yell, she tore the ground there asunder, lifting the entire side of the card house until it lied sideways.

"Eep." Came a small sound from Mumbo. Starfire sent more Starbolts his way, but he managed to dodge them.

"Sheesh, you're like an animal…even more than that green one…" Mumbo said. "Speaking of which…"

Without warning, he turned, pointing his wand at Starfire. With another chant, Starfire soon found herself encaged.

"…animals belong in cages!"

Starfire attempted to fire more Starbolts…only to find that her arms and legs had been chained down inside the cage. This time, the chains seemed especially strong. They wouldn't break as easily as the bonds from earlier. She glanced up, eyes narrowed.

"You will release her!" Starfire called out.

"Oh, the girl?" Mumbo asked, a sweatdrop rolling down his neck. "Sure, sure, I'll let her go…" Mumbo continued, turning to take a threatening step toward the girl. "Just as soon as I get what I want!"

This was Starfire's chance. Her eyes glowed bright green as she fired off her eye lasers, making contact with Mumbo's wand. It snapped in his hand, the built-up magic in it fizzling out weakly. With the wand out of commission, the kitten changed back, and the cage surrounding Starfire vanished into thin air. Mumbo growled, not believing that everything went sour so quickly. Once again, he was forced to revert into his original form, an old, feeble man.

"I really need to rethink this whole thing…" Mumbo said, turning to flee. Starfire chased after him, dashing around to block off his path. Mumbo shrieked, quickly turning again to run in the opposite direction. Starfire shot a hand out to grab his collar, holding him in place for a few moments before tossing him into the nearby lake. Mumbo sloshed about, cursing his bad luck.

"I believe you are now… 'all washed up'." Starfire said with a giggle, quoting a phrase she'd heard before. Mumbo groaned.

----------

Raven walked through the cold, barren warehouses, wondering if anything had even been sent here at all. She reached into her cloak, drawing her communicator. A few seconds later, Robin's face appeared on the screen, still wearing the helmet as he zipped past streetlights and other traffic.

"Raven, what is it?"

"Robin…you're sure something's up here? I've searched, and nothing seems out of the ordinary…"

"Keep looking." Robin said simply. "Slade's up to something…and we've gotta stop him."

"Right."

Raven put the communicator away, and continued searching the place. At least it was quiet up here…dark, too. She could appreciate that. Not to mention the added bonus of Beast Boy not being around to grate her nerves. She'd have to enjoy this solitude while it lasted…

As she passed under a few crates suspended in air by ropes and cranes, one of the ropes snapped, dropping the crate that was directly over her. She glanced up, thrusting her arms out to catch the heavy crate with dark energy before harmlessly tossing it aside. Out of the immediate danger, she looked about her surroundings as a group of Sladebots emerged from shadow.

"_Real_ original." Raven said, as she collected energy in her hands.

Two of the Sladebots leapt at her simultaneously and Raven crouched low, anticipating their arrival. She hopped back to dodge a flying kick, then dodged around a series of quick puches and kicks from the Sladebots. Ducking under a roundhouse kick, Raven lashed out a hand, grabbing a Sladebot by its face. A moment later, she surged a wave of dark energy through her arm, completely obliterating the entire top half of that Sladebot, as well as another one that had been approaching from that direction. She swiftly turned to deal with another Sladebot, bringing up a forearm to parry a punch from the bot before slamming her foot into its midsection, sending it hurtling until it crashed into a pile of crates.

Another group of Sladebots jumped out from behind that same pile of crates, and this time a few of them were equipped with energy pistols.

"_Fun…_" Raven thought to herself. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!"

An instant later, she thrust both arms outward, expanding a shield of black energy across the entirety length of the warehouse. The Sladebots on the other side couldn't get through, and the energy shots from their pistols didn't help much either. Pressing her arms forward, Raven pressed the shield across the warehouse, crushing every Sladebot on the other side, as well as anything else on that side of the warehouse against the wall.

Raven wasn't given more than a few seconds worth of a rest before more Sladebots emerged, surrounding on all sides. Raven took to the air, dodging energy bullets while raining down some of her own. As she gazed through the cloud of smoke left in her wake, looking for stragglers, she didn't notice the two Sladebots hiding themselves slightly above, in the rafters. They pounced on her, each one dropping a foot onto her back. She was sent careening downward, through the cloud of smoke until she hit the floor.

Raven recovered quickly, firing energy blasts upward in retaliation. She heard a single explosion, signifying that she'd hit at least one of them. The other wasn't too far away as he emerged from the haze, lunging out with both arms. Raven ducked under, hopping up with a spinning roundhouse kick which connected cleanly with the side of the Sladebot's head.

With one more Sladebot down, Raven began to wonder just how many had been waiting in ambush. After a few tense moments of total silence, she heard a shuffling noise behind her. Before she could turn back, however, another Sladebot got close, wrapping its arms around her neck from behind in a reverse hold. Several more Sladebots jumped out, all piling up on Raven. A few moments later, rays of black energy found their way out from the cracks in the pile of Sladebots. Then, a massive explosion as every single Sladebot was thrown into the air, a good number of them being blasted straight through the walls and ceiling of the warehouse. Raven emerged from the smoking warehouse, walking out into the central clearing.

----------

Upon reaching the electronics district, Cyborg was surprised to find the typically bustling, active place dark, abandoned. Cyborg activated a shoulder-mounted flashlight, moving through the street until he found a series of busted windows at the mall. Stepping through one of the windows, Cyborg observed the area. Furniture and other display items were destroyed, entire stores ransacked. Still, no signs of anyone actually in the area. Cyborg glanced down at his arm to get a reading. Sensors indicated that someone was still around.

"Well, if it isn't the Tin Man! Still looking for that heart?"

Cyborg heard someone laughing, turning to see none other than Control Freak, standing on an upward-moving escalator.

"Man, Control Freak, what are you doing out on the streets again? Last I heard, you got served by Bee and Titans East."

"I got out, moron." Control Freak barked. "With a…_little_ help, but that's beside the point. Besides, there's no jail on this planet that can hold me. Now, if we were talking about the Gordonians, or maybe the guys from Clash of the Planets…"

Cyborg sighed. "Why'd I have to be the one to deal with this guy…"

"HEY! Don't underestimate me!" Control Freak yelled, pointing his remote at Cyborg. "Did you forget, Tin Man? I'm a level 12 Space Samurai!"

Cyborg responded in turn by taking aim with his Sonic Cannon.

"Don't do it…" Cyborg warned, his gaze set in stone.

"Watch me."

Control Freak pressed a button on the remote, and nearby items suddenly levitated from the floor, flying toward Cyborg at breakneck speed. Cyborg took a potshot at Control Freak before activating his micro missiles, which spiraled outward, protecting him as they crashed into all the incoming projectiles. Control Freak managed to duck under Cyborg's shot, retaliating by sending more projectiles Cyborg's way. Cyborg dashed to the escalator, shooting any object that got too close. Upon reaching the top floor, Cyborg spotted the tail end of Control Freak's cloak going behind a row of computer equipment.

Cyborg stepped cautiously forward, Sonic Cannon charged and ready. Hearing a sound behind him, Cyborg quickly spun around to see Control Freak running at him with a metal pole raised.

"Feel the wrath of Bushido! HWOOO!" Control Freak screamed, bringing the pole down on Cyborg. Cyborg raised an arm to block, and the pole snapped in two, the broken end snapping back to nick Control Freak in the forehead. Control Freak fell to the floor with a yelp, both hands clutching his forehead in agony. When Control Freak finally looked up, he saw the business end of the Sonic Cannon only inches from his face.

"Nice try." Cyborg said with a smirk.

----------

Beast Boy wandered the deserted pier, slowly slipping into boredom.

"Augh! So…bored!" Beast Boy yelled out, kicking at a discarded wrapper as he ambled down the midway. "They could've at least left the arcade games on…stupid Slade…"

"Hey little man, how's it goin'?" Beast Boy recognized the voice right away. It was Adonis.

"You…again?" Beast Boy asked, as Adonis emerged from a shadowed corner, fully decked out in his battlesuit.

"Heh. I been workin' out, pumpin' iron. How about you? Still a little chump weakling?

"Why don't you find out?" Beast Boy growled, fists clenching. The way Adonis called him 'little man' reminded him of Brave. He'd show Adonis who the chump weakling was. Without another word, Beast Boy morphed into a monstrous T-Rex, roaring furiously at Adonis as the creaking floorboards under Beast Boy struggled to hold his weight. Adonis smiled, cracking his knuckles.

T-Rex Beast Boy lumbered toward Adonis, jaws opened wide. As Beast Boy attempted to bite down, Adonis caught Beast Boy's powerful jaws with both hands, engaging in a power struggle. Beast Boy threw his head upwards, lifting Adonis into the air, before forcefully flinging him across the pier, until Adonis slammed into the pier's Ferris Wheel, bringing the entire thing down in a tremendous cloud of smoke.

Beast Boy detransformed, walking toward the wreckage. The smoke cleared, revealing a still-standing Adonis.

"I'm impressed, little man…" Adonis said, as he stepped over the debris to approach Beast Boy. "You've gotten tougher."

"You have **no **idea." Beast Boy replied, before morphing into a rhino. Rhino Beast Boy lowered his head, charging full-on at Adonis. Adonis chuckled, waiting until the last moment to grab Rhino Beast Boy by the horn, spinning around to fling the massive creature into a group of food stands. Beast Boy quickly rose from the debris, running at Adonis in the form of a grizzly bear.

"This _again?_" Adonis said as the two locked arms. Adonis won the struggle, tossing Beast Boy again. Beast Boy stood, rage building. Adonis ran at him, fist cocked back to deliver a fierce haymaker. With a smirk, Beast Boy shapeshifted into a chimp, and effortlessly passed under Adonis. As Adonis stumbled off-balance, Chimp Beast Boy hopped onto Adonis' back, yanking at the circuitry of Adonis' battlesuit.

"No! Cut it out! You might--"

A second later, and Beast Boy managed to cut the power on Adonis' suit, deactivating him entirely. Beast Boy jumped away detransforming with a wild grin on his face. Adonis was immobile, he couldn't even get out of the suit anymore.

"Guess that means I win." Beast Boy said.

----------

The Boy Wonder ripped through the streets of Jump City, headed toward Central. As he weaved effortlessly through traffic, he couldn't help but think about what he and the team were getting into. Slade was a force to be reckoned with, that was plain fact. But what exactly did he have up his sleeve? He seemed to be alluding to something when they 'spoke' earlier, but Robin couldn't bring himself to figure it out. Right around this time, he got another call on his communicator. The first time it was Raven, but still, he half expected Slade to be on the other end when he flipped it open. Instead he saw Cyborg.

"Cyborg…what's up?"

"Yo…I got our buddy Control Freak all taken care of over here, how are things on your end?"

"Nothing yet…"

"Well, I been lookin' at the map of the city…maybe it's better if I just show you. Maybe you'll see what I'm talking' about."

A few moments later, Cyborg wired in the projection map of Jump City, complete with the red blips on the map that the Titans were individually dealing with. Robin looked at the map, still glancing up every now and again to avoid traffic. The blips on the map were mostly at opposite corners of the city, and they all seemed to converge…almost as if they were coming together to a central point…in an 'X' shape…

Robin's eyes widened.

----------

Author's Note: Yeah, had to end it there. The Titans are spread across the city, and Robin has just made a startling realization. What will happen when he reaches his destination? And just what exactly does Slade have in store for the team? Find out next chap!


	9. Dark Angel

Author's Note: Again, sorry about delays, but now I actually have enough free time to work on this again. (for more than a paragraph a week… ) Hopefully I can be a bit better about updates and all that. Thanks for the reviews; I am grateful for each and every one. To those that have been with me on this endeavor, I appreciate your support, and although it's been a while (I know…) I hope you'll keep reading. I'll try to make it worth your while.

Alright, let's get going.

----------

Chapter 9: Dark Angel

----------

"Now Robin, I know what you're thinkin'…" Cyborg said from the screen of Robin's communicator. As Robin took a quick glance down after weaving between two sedans, Cyborg could see it all over the Boy Wonder's face, the tension and anger surfacing, the anticipation beginning to take form, even from behind the dark visor of his bike helmet. Still, Cyborg felt he had to get his point across.

"…Don't do anything stupid. Look, I know you want X put away more than all the rest of us put together, but you gotta be smart about it. Remember, man, we're spread all across the city, and it'll be a little while before any one of us'll be able to get to your location if something bad goes down. This is obviously a trap in the purest sense of the word, and quite frankly, I **don't** think--"

"Don't worry, Cyborg." Robin calmly interjected, cutting off the lecture before it could start proper. "I'm ready for whatever he throws at me. I'll take him down myself. This is **my** burden."

"Listen, man…you're not thinking straight!" Cyborg yelled into his communicator. "Don't you think this is what they had in mind all along? It's gonna be an ambush! If you head in there by yourself…"

"I can hold my own just fine." Robin replied.

"Argh!" Cyborg vented, frustrated at Robin's refusal to listen to reason. "Look, just give us a few minutes. I'll be back in the T-Car in a sec, and I'll get everyone else together, and then--"

"Cyborg," Robin started, still maintaining the calm in his voice. "I've got it. I'm taking Red X down. Understand?"

"But--!"

"Robin out." With that, Robin shut off his communicator, abruptly ending the conversation and turning his attention on the night skyline of high-rise buildings that was beginning to appear at the horizon. He gave the R-Cycle's engine a few quick revs, then gunned it, racing down the highway toward the buildings.

----------

"…He's crazy." Cyborg said as he scratched his head in puzzlement on the screen of a different Titan's communicator. This one was Raven's. She glanced down at it in the palm of her hand, one eyebrow slightly raised. "…I don't know what else to say about it. The kid's plain crazy. I **told** him what he was walkin' right into, but he wouldn't--"

"You should have expected such behavior." Raven said, no hint of worry in her voice, whether she was actually worried or not. After taking a deep breath, she continued. "When we have to deal with Red X, or Slade, Robin's emotions tend to get out of hand, leading to rash, impulsive decisions."

"Sounds like Robin, alright…" Beast Boy broke in on the conversation, splitting the image on the other two Titan's communicators. "…It's like he doesn't even want our help sometimes. I swear, if it wasn't for my help last time, he'd have been flatter than a--"

"Please, friends…" Starfire also joined the conversation, further splitting the channel. In stark contrast to Raven, the concern in Starfire's voice was unmistakable. Her eyes were wide, her expression on the verge of panic. "We must help Robin! If the trap you speak of is indeed true, then we have no time to waste! We must go to his location immediately!"

"Calm down, Star…" Cyborg said, trying to keep the Tamaranian from losing her composure. "We can't stop him from what he's gonna do, but we should be able to get over there before things get out of control. I just wired in the map on everyone's communicator, so everybody knows where to go. The sooner we can get there, the better. Now, given our present locations, I'd say Star and I are closest, so Rae and BB, you'll walk in right when things are in full swing. As it stands, we've wasted enough time talking, so let's get moving."

"Agreed." Starfire said. "We must make the haste."

----------

As Robin rode down the highway, he couldn't help but notice that traffic had seemed to lessen quite a bit. Down in front of him, only a single mack truck was on the road, nothing else for quite a distance ahead. There were no signs or posters on it, and the license plate was covered up. Robin accelerated, beginning to pass the truck on its driver's side, when he glanced up into its sideview mirror to see a Sladebot driving. Robin grit his teeth in response, then began to notice a strangely-cast shadow over him, even though they were currently passing under a series of streetlights. Robin glanced up to confirm his suspicion; a Sladebot, previously concealed by lying flat on top of the truck, had leapt from his hiding place to pounce on Robin's back.

The Boy Wonder attempted to emergency brake in response, but it wasn't quick enough to make a significant difference as the Sladebot landed on its target, hammering its fists into the back of Robin's helmeted head. All this caused Robin to swerve just a bit, but he regained control of the bike and his opponent as he drove an elbow back into the Sladebot's face, sending it off his back and rolling back up the street. Robin gunned the accelerator again, screeching ahead of the truck and beginning to pull away when four more headlights suddenly shone from behind him, accompanied by the roar of more engines. Robin glanced back to see four more Sladebots, all on bikes of their own, approaching him from the opposite side of the truck.

"_They must've been hiding on the other side of the truck…_" Robin thought, "_…but why didn't I hear their engines?_"

Regardless, there they were, gaining on him. The four Sladebots fanned out, one in each side lane and two in the middle lane. Taking but a few brief moments to reach into his utility belt with one hand while still steering with the other, Robin flung back a small black explosive. It made direct contact with one of the bikes in the middle lane, causing it to wildly flip over backwards, nearly taking out the adjacent bike in the resulting explosion. The other Sladebot in the middle lane had just barely managed to swerve away from the blast in time, regaining control as the remaining three Sladebots accelerated, catching up to Robin.

Two Sladebots rode at either side of Robin, while the third remained behind, though closer than before.

"I won't let you stand in my way!" Robin shouted angrily to these Sladebots.

The Sladebot on Robin's right began to bear left upon him, in an attempt to ram him off the road. Robin realized what was happening, but the bot rammed him before he could respond, nearly taking him out. Now unstable and dangerously close to the Sladebot on his other side, Robin swayed to dodge a punch aimed for his head, noticing that the Sladebot on the right was preparing to ram again. This time, Robin retaliated by counter-ramming, keeping his bike under control during the collision. The sparks flew as the bikes hit, Robin swiftly drawing his bo staff to swipe it across the side of that Sladebot's face, knocking it clean off its bike. The now-driverless bike slowed, eventually collapsing on its side as Robin turned his attention to the other two, bo staff still held ready in one hand.

The Sladebot who was originally to Robin's left had pulled ahead during the scuffle, and now rode a few car lengths ahead. The other was still behind him. After hearing a thunderous roar behind him, Robin looked back, anticipating the Sladebot from behind to make a move. However, the high-pitched screeching sound of tire scraping against the street forced Robin to turn his attention forward again, to see the Sladebot in front had intentionally skidded his bike almost completely sideways, attempting to use it as a roadblock. With quick thinking, Robin instinctively pulled up on the front wheel of his bike. When Robin's wheel hit, the Sladebot's sideways bike served as a ramp which shot Robin up and over. The fourth Sladebot followed suit, also jumping over that bike.

As the last two riders landed, the Sladebot who was still driving the mack truck behind them made no attempt to avoid the kamikaze Sladebot or its bike, slamming into them. Both bike and rider were pinned to the front of the truck for a few moments, but both eventually flew off at the sides broken and disfigured, as the truck kept going unhindered.

The last biker Sladebot pulled up right next to Robin, and the two rode side-by-side for a stretch of road before a road sign on an overpass ahead gave Robin an idea. A sly, devious smirk began to cross his face as he looked over at the Sladebot beside him. Sensing something bad, the Sladebot took a swing at Robin, but Robin easily blocked it with his staff. Robin then used the end of the staff to give the Sladebot's bike a small nudge, increasing the distance between them by about a foot or so. Robin then returned his gaze forward, seemingly no longer interested in the Sladebot as he throttled ahead.

Puzzled, the Sladebot did likewise, throttling its engine to speed up…but as the Sladebot looked ahead, they had come to an exit, and although Robin had veered off to continue down the highway, the Sladebot was on a direct collision course with the half-wall and guardrail separating the main freeway from the exit path. The Sladebot tried to veer, but far too late as it smashed through a couple fluid-filled containers, all the way into the half-wall itself in a powerful explosion.

One left.

The sound of a projectile hitting the street only a few inches from Robin's R-Cycle made Robin glance back again. The Sladebot driving the mack truck was leaning out its window, a small, silver firearm in hand. After Robin avoided a few more potshots, the driver ducked back into the truck, focusing its attention on trying to close the gap for a better shot. During this time, Robin readied a birdarang, and hurled it back. To avoid it, the Sladebot ducked underneath the steering wheel for a couple moments, just as the birdarang crashed through the windshield. After a solid "clank" sound signifying the threat was over, the Sladebot returned to the wheel, stepping on the gas full-force. Once again, Robin turned his attention forward, continuing along the road.

It wasn't until they approached a right curve that something went wrong. As Robin effortlessly glided along the curve, the Sladebot found it nigh impossible to turn the steering wheel. When Robin threw the birdarang, he wasn't aiming for the Sladebot…instead, he'd aimed at the steering wheel itself. And now, the birdarang was lodged in-between a part of the steering wheel itself, and its turning mechanism, which prevented the wheel from moving more than an inch or so in either direction.

Realizing what would happen soon, the Sladebot began to yank at the lodged birdarang, but to no avail as the monstrous truck rammed straight through the guardrail, careening off the road and into the darkness below. A few moments later, a huge explosion sounded from behind, as the truck met its end far below, fiery reds and yellows illuminating the road signs ahead for a distance. Robin didn't even bother looking back.

----------

A short while later, off the freeway and into the central district of Jump City, Robin pulled into the nearly vacant parking lot of a cluster of office buildings. He cut the engine, dismounting the bike and removing his helmet as he began to scour the environment for anything unusual. According to the map Cyborg provided, he was standing directly on the spot represented by the red blip, though at present, nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary.

He began to walk toward one of the buildings, spotting a security camera which just happened to be trained on him. He hadn't noticed it before, perhaps because he was too intent on searching for Red X. It followed him as he walked. The image the camera was taking, however, was being intercepted by Slade. The masked villain stood before a mammoth sized wall of screens in a large, dark room somewhere hidden away, the light from the screens the only thing illuminating him. He'd seen Robin pull into the lot, and watched Robin's every move intently, arms folded.

"Everything according to plan." Slade said with chilling confidence.

As Robin got closer to the camera, he swiftly reached into his belt, drawing a small device which fired off an EM pulse, temporarily shorting out the camera's video feed with a brief cackle of electricity. This elicited a chuckle from Slade on the other end as that particular screen went to static.

Back in the parking lot, Robin suddenly halted when he thought he heard a sound off to his left. He turned, only to see a cluster of leaves floating down the street, carried by the wind. He continued to walk, approaching a dim streetlight. Just before he reached the outer border of its circle of light, Robin heard a voice behind him.

"Wrong way."

Robin froze in place. He recognized the voice right away. Red X. A moment later, Robin whipped around, turning his gaze upward to see a dark silhouette standing on the edge of a rooftop on the opposite side of the parking lot, the serene light of a huge, pale moon at his back. Without so much as a word, Robin broke into a full-on sprint across the lot, readying his grappling hook as Red X looked on from above, ragged black cape flowing in the wind and arms folded in an amused pose.

With a quick leap, Robin hopped onto the roof of a nearby parked SUV, then bounded from that as high as he could jump, firing the hook in midair. It landed cleanly in the brick of the building near the top, the line vaulting him upward just as Red X turned to flee. After flipping up and over the edge of the rooftop, Robin landed deftly, securing his footing on the gravel before launching forward to give chase.

"You won't get away!" Robin yelled without breaking stride.

"Heh…but it's no fun if I don't try!" Red X replied, glancing over his shoulder at Robin as he ran. Robin readied a birdarang as Red X approached the edge of the rooftop. He flung it just as Red X launched himself across the gap to the next building. Seeing it coming, Red X turned in midair, the birdarang just barely missing him as it whizzed past and looped its way back. Red X landed on the second rooftop without a hitch and took off running again. Robin landed a few moments later, launching forward again in an attempt to catch Red X. Robin was so intent on his goal, however, that he hadn't noticed Red X stopped running, and was aiming a fist straight for his face.

Realizing the danger just in time, Robin dodged the punch, using his forward momentum to lash out with a wide swinging punch. Red X dropped to one knee, ducking under this attack easily. Red X counterattacked from this position by planting a foot into Robin's momentarily undefended midsection, sending the Boy Wonder a couple feet backward. Robin landed in a roll, quickly standing to bound forward yet again and take the offensive.

Red X caught a punch in the palm of his hand, then hopped back to avoid a high kick. After a brief exchange of swift attacks, blocks, and dodges, Red X ducked under a sudden roundhouse kick from Robin, while sweeping a leg out to trip him up. Robin landed on his back with a grunt as Red X took a couple steps back, planning his next move. When Robin moved, preparing to spring back to his feet, Red X shot out a palm and fired a short burst of Xenothium goo at the spot where his feet would land. As predicted, one of Robin's feet landed in the trap. When he tried to spring forward at Red X, his own momentum slammed him hard face-first onto the rooftop. Red X backflipped away, landing on the rooftop's edge. He chuckled arrogantly as he folded his arms again, glaring down at his opponent.

"Heh…what's the matter, kid?" Red X taunted. "Can't keep up?"

"**You**…" Robin barely spat through gritted teeth.

A second later, Robin took another birdarang from his belt and used it to cut his foot free. With a ferocious growl, the now-freed Robin lunged for his rival. Taking the cue, Red X simply leaned backward, voluntarily falling from the ledge. With his body still facing upward, Red X glared up at Robin as he fell, arms still folded.

"No…not this time!" Robin yelled as he took a dashing step for the edge. With a swan dive, Robin dropped from the roof. Since he took on a more aerodynamic position, Robin knew he'd be able to catch Red X soon. However, Red X extended one arm over his head, aimed at the buildings across the street. Another moment, and his grappling hook fired, connecting with a building and allowing Red X to swing off in the direction of a two-tiered rooftop enveloped in shadow. Reacting quickly, Robin readied his own grappling hook, preparing to swing to the same area.

On that dark rooftop, Red X drifted into a shadowed corner, located behind a shed-like structure which probably housed some of that building's electricity transformers and equipment. With a brief moment to take a breather, Red X hid against the wall of the shed, waiting for Robin to show. He heard the clink of Robin's grappling hook hitting the building. Soon enough, Robin could be seen vaulting up high over the rooftop, preparing his landing.

"Here he comes…" Red X said, almost as if he were talking to someone else on that rooftop.

----------

Riding along the same highway that Robin had traveled some time earlier that night, Cyborg drove the T-Car a little faster than normal, hoping he wouldn't be too late. While ordinarily, the purr of the T-Car's engine at these specific speeds was something Cyborg enjoyed and saved especially for the occasional joyride, he found himself too worried about his friend and leader to think about that now. As he reached a certain section of the highway, Cyborg began to see the remnants of Sladebot and bike parts left in the wake of the earlier highway battle. He had to swerve to dodge one of the mangled Sladebot bikes lying in the middle of the road.

"_Man…city cleanup better get on that…._"

Cyborg decided to check up on the others. He tried calling Robin's communicator…no response, as Cyborg predicted. With a sigh, next he sent out an open channel call to all other four Titans, Robin included. Starfire was the first to answer. Soon enough, her face appeared on his communicator screen, clouds and stars behind her moving so fast he almost couldn't make them out.

"_She's probably even more worried than me…_" Cyborg mused.

"Friend Cyborg," Starfire said, attempting to still keep her usual light-hearted, happy tone, though doing a decidedly poor job at it. "Have you anything to report?"

Cyborg shook his head. "Not much, Star." Next, Beast Boy's channel opened. It seemed he'd taken on the form of a peregrine falcon, and the communicator was held in his talons. "Hey BB. Now Star, like I was sayin', I haven't seen Robin yet, but…"

"…But what?" Raven asked as she also entered the conversation.

"…He's been through here." Cyborg continued. "Mashed-up sladebots all over the highway…and the smell of burning twisted metal. Something definitely crashed and burned over there."

Suddenly, Starfire gasped. "Surely, you do not suppose he…?"

"No…" Raven said simply. "Starfire, Robin wouldn't let himself be taken down by a few Sladebots." "…_Not when he's like this._" Raven thought to herself. "_But if he's blinded by rage, then he won't be able to beat Red X…_"

Starfire breathed a sigh of relief. "Raven is right. Now, let us reach him quickly, before--"

Starfire was interrupted by an ear-piercing squawk from falcon Beast Boy. Raven grunted at the sudden loudness, eyes shut in an attempt to control herself. "Beast…Boy…" she said, straining.

"Don't talk when you're a bird!" Cyborg said for her. Beast Boy eyed the screen for a moment, then morphed his face only back into human form, angry expression intact.

"I **_said_**…"

Beast boy then shifted the communicator in his talons to show what he wanted to tell everyone. There had been an explosion on one of the rooftops far ahead in the distance, and the fire from it was still blazing. Beast Boy's human face then reappeared on-screen, toothy grin replacing the anger from before.

"…I **_found_** 'em!"

Starfire searched the horizon ahead, and soon enough, she too saw the flames. "I can see them as well…I will be there shortly!"

"_Please…_" Starfire thought. "_…wait for me, Robin…_"

----------

Robin yelled in pain as his back slammed into the brick wall which lead to the second, higher tier of the rooftop. Before Robin could slump down from the wall, Red X fired a large sticky X which clung to Robin, bounding him tight to the wall. Red X walked up leisurely, arms folded again, stopping just a foot or so from Robin. Red X stared at him through the mask, and Robin stared right back, uncompromising. Red X sighed, mockingly.

"And here I thought I'd get a decent challenge…but I guess you just ain't got it!" With that, Red X threw a sucker punch, nailing the defenseless Robin squarely across the jaw. Robin took the hit in full, then smirked at Red X, despite the blood finding its way down from his lip to his chin.

"Trust me…" Robin said, sounding arrogant despite his current disadvantage. "…you'll get what's coming to you."

Losing his patience, Red X formed a bladed X in one hand, preparing to finish Robin with it when he looked back just in time to see a hail of glowing green Starbolts coming down on him from above. Red X hopped back to avoid the attack, while Starfire carefully aimed her next shot, using it to free Robin from the binding sticky X.

"Thanks, Starfire." Robin quickly expressed his gratitude. She landed next to him, eyes and hands glowing bright green as they both took on ready stances, side-by-side.

"Isn't this romantic?" Red X mocked. "Saved by your girl, and now you think you can--"

"Gremplork…" Starfire muttered tersely under her breath, though her anger quickly began to swell. Then with a fierce battlecry, the Tamaranian girl lunged straight for him without warning, one arm forward with palm open and fingers outstretched, the other arm cocked back, fist balled tight, ready to unleash a mighty blow. Red X planted his feet, and crossed his arms in front of his face to block, as he knew he'd have zero chance of dodging this attack cleanly.

"Zordmorking…**CHLORBAG!**" Starfire yelled in rage, just as she was upon him.

Starfire's fist made direct contact, and even though he blocked it, Red X let out a pained grunt as the sheer brute force of the punch lifted him from his feet, carrying him several yards across the length of the rooftop. He landed hard on his back, skidding along and rolling a short distance more until the top half of his body hung dangerously over the edge. Even though he blocked, he felt like he'd just tried to block a wrecking ball. His arms still throbbed violently. If it wasn't for the suit…

"_They aren't broken…_" he thought, trying to shake some of it off. It wasn't really working. "_The girl's no joke._"

"Quite the feisty Amazonian, aren't you?" Red X casually called as he started to get up, masking the pain as best he could.

"No…" Starfire said defiantly, fists tightly clenched. "…Not Amazonian. **Tamaranian**."

With that, she fired off another volley of Starbolts, a couple of them stinging before Red X ran for cover behind the shed. Robin gave chase, leaping on top of the shed to pounce on Red X, bo staff in hand. Red X dodged this attack, but was caught across the jaw by a quick second swipe from the staff which forced him back a few steps. Robin didn't relent, tagging Red X a few more times with the staff until Red X escaped the rush by quickly forming a bladed X in one hand to parry the staff, then hopping up onto the second tier of the roof. Robin and Starfire were close behind, after him again in an instant.

"I hope we aren't late to the party!" it was Cyborg, being airlifted by the talons of pterodactyl Beast Boy, coming from the opposite direction. Cyborg aimed the Sonic Cannon from above, as Raven could be seen floating upward from a dark alleyway.

"_Tch…Just great._" Red X thought angrily to himself. "Glad you could make it." He said before jumping away from the Sonic Cannon blast.

"You know I never miss a party." Cyborg said with a smirk as Beast Boy set him down. Upon landing, Beast Boy morphed into a raptor, crouching low and growling threateningly.

"_What's taking so long?_" Red X wondered to himself. His thoughts were cut short as Robin attacked at him again, aided by raptor Beast Boy. Red X lodged one bladed X in Beast Boy's snapping jaws, using the other to block a swing from Robin. With a show of force, Red X used the one arm locked in Beast Boy's mouth to fling the young changeling away, so he could focus more attention on Robin. He deftly blocked and parried more attacks with his bladed Xs, but was nearly hit by another Sonic Cannon shot that both of them had to leap away from. Red X landed back on the lower tier of the roof, the only one down there. With a high leap, Robin cut an arc through the air, bo staff raised high and ready to strike.

"_Any time now…_" Red X thought, muscles tensing.

And then, just before Robin would've made contact, his bo staff, and his entire body was enveloped in a familiar black aura. He was frozen in place, as the others looked on incredulous.

"…What the…?" Cyborg uttered, the collective thought among all the other Titans for sure. A moment later, and the black aura slammed Robin back into the wall which separated the tiers of the roof, leaving a nice-sized crack. Red X chuckled.

"ROBIN!" Starfire cried. Beast Boy, reverting back to human form, had a look of suspicion about him. Cyborg looked at him, and knew that they were both thinking the same thing. There was only one among them who could do something like that…apparently, Robin had an idea too.

"**RAVEN!**" Robin screamed, as he lied in a slump on the wall.

"YO!" Cyborg shouted, turning back. "What's the deal, Rae?"

"Yeah Raven," Beast Boy said, turning to point an accusing finger her way. "Whose side are you on?"

"Friend Raven…" Starfire said pleadingly, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Surely you attacked the wrong one!"

Raven floated in the night air, cloak blowing in the wind. Her facial expression flared slightly, but it wasn't at her friends.

"It wasn't ME…" Raven protested, though she knew that technically, that statement was only partially true.

"How stupid do you think we are?" Beast Boy yelled, obviously not convinced. "We **saw**--"

"She's right, you know…" Red X began, folding his arms yet again as a black fog began to permeate about him. Robin looked at him questioningly from the wall. "Huh…?"

The fog thickened, as black lightning-like bolts began to shoot out from it.

"That was my new guardian…" Red X continued, as an even darker silhouette made its way through the fog, until it floated just a short distance behind him.

"…My Dark Angel."

At those words, the silhouette's eyes flashed open, four of them. All red. None of the Titans save Raven could believe what they were seeing. The silhouette revealed herself, identical to Raven except for the paler skin, red eyes and black cloak. She floated even closer to Red X, affectionately draping her arms around his shoulders, a purely evil grin on her face. All the Titans looked to Raven again. Beast Boy especially wasn't too fond of what he saw. Even though he knew it wasn't really _her_…

"She…looks just like…" Beast Boy said aloud, slack-jawed, eyes wide.

"I'll explain later." Raven said simply as her eyes glowed white.

By now, Robin was back on his feet. "Titans, GO!" he shouted. Raven was first, firing off a two-handed burst of dark energy. Strife raised an open palm, and a black energy shield shot up at Red X's feet, protecting both of them from Raven's attack.

"Heh." Red X sneered as the shield dissipated. Strife released Red X, taking flight some feet above while Red X made a dash for the nearest Titan: Robin. Robin held the bo staff tight in a defensive stance, anticipating Red X's blades.

"A guardian…" Robin said as he fought with Red X. "…I thought you worked alone."

"Things change, kid." Came the thief's reply.

Up above, Starfire flew to Strife's level, staring questioningly at her. Strife retained the mischievous grin.

"Please…" Starfire inquired. "You are…Raven…but…not Raven?"

"Smart girl." Strife replied, as she pointed a palm at Starfire. Another second, and Starfire was overwhelmed by a blast of dark energy. With a yelp, she fell back to the rooftop.

"STARFIRE!" Robin looked up from his struggle with Red X. Temporarily losing interest in his rival, Robin quickly disengaged, leaping straight up, enraged at this new enemy. She glared down at him as he rose, grin growing even more toothy and menacing. Red X couldn't help but look on, amused at what he knew was about to happen. Apparently, he wasn't too worried about the other Titans. He figured he could take a rest and let his 'guardian' beat on them for a while.

Raven flew to Starfire, kneeling down at her side. "_She's still conscious…_" Raven thought. "_Just a little rattled._"

Starfire looked up at Raven, forming a faint smile. Raven allowed herself to return it, though toned down some.

"You are…related?" Starfire asked, almost a whisper.

"Starfire…" Raven said, looking up in the direction of Strife and Robin. "…like I said, I'll explain later. Just try to focus on staying alive for now."

"Agreed."

After getting sufficient height, Robin swung the staff at Strife, who casually swayed her head to dodge. Taking advantage of the opening, she sunk a knee into Robin's torso, his body painfully bending over it.

"…You're too slow, Boy Blunder." She whispered into Robin's ear.

She used her knee to lift him higher, then landing a lightning-fast series of three punches, two across the face, one more in the stomach. These hits were so fierce and so quick, they kept Robin airborne.

"_She fights like G.I. Raven…_" Beast Boy thought. "Don't just stand there!" he then turned and cried to Cyborg, arms waving in a panic. "Shoot 'er or somethin'!"

"I'm tryin'…" Cyborg replied, as he had the Sonic Cannon aimed in their direction. "She ain't making it easy. For all I know, if I shoot now, she might grab Robin and use him as a shield."

Regaining composure, Robin finally blocked an attack, pushing away from Strife. He swung the bo staff around, aiming for her head. Strife held out a hand, catching it without any significant effort. Then, as if taking a page out of Dr. Light's book (at least the more effective chapter of it anyway), she channeled a surge of dark energy into that arm, transferring it to the staff, then directly to Robin. He yelled out, but maintained enough willpower to hold onto the staff, despite the pain shooting through his every bone. Growing tired of his dogged determination, Strife flung Robin and his staff downward, straight for Cyborg and Beast Boy. Starfire saw this and gasped, as Raven helped her back to her feet.

Beast Boy yelped, morphing into the first thing that came to mind: an octopus. With some difficulty, he managed to catch Robin, though the force of impact sent all three of them to the floor. Remembering there was no water in the immediate area, Beast Boy hurriedly shifted back to human form. With a grunt, Cyborg lined up his shot again from the floor, and took it without hesitation. Strife was motionless in the air as the blast approached her, the grin almost seeming to be a permanent tattoo on her face. This time, she pointed a lone forefinger at Cyborg's attack. Dark energy crackled at the fingertip, then fired straight into the cannon blast. Her shot stopped Cyborg's cold.

"No…way…" Cyborg muttered from the floor.

With a flick of the wrist, Strife altered the path of Cyborg's shot by a few degrees, then allowed it to continue, and it whizzed harmlessly by her head, on into the night sky.

"She's…_tough…_" Beast Boy whined. He couldn't help but wonder what would happen if this new evil Raven fought Brave one-on-one. Little did he know that already happened…

Leaving Starfire, Raven was next to take on this powerful new opponent. She floated up, and Strife waited for her. As they met at eye-level, Strife's ever-present smirk lessened noticeably, but did not vanish completely.

"I won't let this stand." Raven declared, serious. "You know that."

"Then fight me." Strife replied coldly. "If you think you can win."

Raven's eyes glowed white, and she floated a couple yards backward to give herself some space. Strife mirrored her every movement. Both chanted simultaneously.

"Azarath, Metrion, **Zinthos!**"

Without another moment's pause, they both fired medium-sized blasts at each other, of nearly identical magnitude. The blasts met in the center, and a power struggle began.

Meanwhile, down below, Red X decided his break was over, and leapt back into action on the Titans still recovering on the floor. Robin bounded forward to meet him, and the two clashed weapons, directly below the clash of energies above them.

Raven grunted, putting considerable effort into her end of the struggle. On the other hand, Strife didn't seem to be expending too much energy, even though Raven still wouldn't just let herself be pushed over.

"Are you strong enough?" Strife asked mockingly. "Can you even stand up to your own **inner darkness**?" When Raven looked into Strife's eyes, she was instantly reminded of the nightmares she wished she could purge from the depths of her mind.

"_**You may have erased me from your realm, but I'm not done with you yet, my daughter.**"_

It rung and echoed in her head like an alarm. Raven grunted again, shaking her head in an attempt to rid herself of it, at least for the time being. Finally, she focused even more energy into the struggle, meeting Strife's power bit for bit.

Below, Robin and Red X circled, neither one willing to break the lock. Beast Boy and Cyborg appeared over the wall separating the tiers, wanting to help.

"Don't worry!" Robin called without looking at them. "I've got him. You two make sure Starfire is okay!"

After a short, indecisive moment, they agreed, vanishing back over the wall.

"Face it kid," Red X taunted. "You're in over your head on this one."

"We'll see." Robin responded, as he kicked at Red X's stomach without warning. After the hit, Red X took a step back, then hopped forward with a swing from one of the blades. Robin parried it with the staff, using the momentum to slam Red X into the wall, hard on his back. Seemingly unfazed, Red X got in a surprise attack by hitting Robin in the chin with a high front kick from the wall. Robin stumbled back, and Red X pursued, swinging with both blades this time. Robin dodged a few swipes, then caught both blades at once with the staff. In a continuous motion, Robin rolled backward, flinging Red X past him with both feet.

Without hesitation, and before Red X could rise, Robin continued to roll smoothly into a backflip, landing square on Red X's chest. Robin slammed the bo staff down angrily across Red X's shoulders, preventing retaliation. Interestingly enough, Robin forgot about Red X's legs, but before Red X could kick Robin away, Beast Boy showed up once again as an octopus, showing quick thinking of his own by wrapping his tentacles tight around Red X's feet.

"I told you to stay with Starfire!" Robin said as he shot Beast Boy an 'I'm-the-leader, do-as-I-say' look. Although, he couldn't deny he was grateful for the changeling's help.

It seemed Red X was finally pinned.

Cyborg and Starfire peeked up from the edge of the wall as well, and it seemed even Raven took a moment's glance down at what was going on.

"_Wait…he's not about to…?"_

"It's been a **long** time coming, X…" Robin said. He reached for the mask which had tormented him for so long…

"_He IS!_" Octopus Beast Boy thought, as his head alone reverted back to human form. "_Oh man, this is it! We finally get to see…_"

"This makes no difference, kid!" Red X said, not sounding desperate, but still slightly shaken. "You've still got no chance against us!"

With a swift movement of the hand, Robin removed Red X's mask. What he saw beneath made him go wide-eyed, and gasp in pure, unabashed surprise.

----------

Author's note: Heh, what can I say?

Random girl in audience: **AAAAIIIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEE! **How can you leave off at a cliffie like that?

Me: …Umm… sorry…? -o-;;

-gets a folding chair thrown at him-

Ow…anyway, things are really getting good now, huh? Strife makes a dramatic reappearance, as Red X's right hand…woman, no less, and kicks her some Titan butt! Speaking of Red X…. he's finally unmasked! Who is he, after all?

Random girl: If you value your life, you will tell us **RIGHT NOW.**

Me: Er… -gulp- Findoutnextchap! -runs for the door, is chased by angry mob led by the girl-


	10. Twisted Image

Author's Note: Yeah, in all honesty this probably should've been updated a lot sooner.

-shoots a nervous glance at the girl from before, who's now taken her seat in front row, sweet smile on her face, but still menacingly brandishing a baseball bat the entire time-

…But here it is.

Enjoy.

----------

Chapter 10: Twisted Image

----------

"I…don't…believe it…" The Boy Wonder managed to say as his entire body nearly froze, undoubtedly due to shock.

"Dude…" a wide-eyed Beast Boy simply uttered.

"Heh…" Red X chuckled arrogantly, despite it all. Cyborg and Starfire still peeked side-by-side from the edge of the second-tier rooftop.

"Friend Cyborg…" Starfire began, still not taking her emerald eyes off Red X. "Please tell me…do my eyes deceive me? Is this some manner of deception…?"

Cyborg hit a few buttons on his arm, then slowly shook his head. "Well, Star…According to my sensors…no. What you see is what's really there…as far as I can tell…"

Up above, even though she was still engaged in a power struggle with Strife, Raven too stole a moment to gaze down at the revealed thief. At first, Raven had a hard time believing it too…but after the realization of what it really meant began to form itself in her mind, she gasped, the once resolute look in her eyes temporarily melting into one of dismay and hesitation.

Sensing the brief falter on Raven's end of the struggle, Strife cackled maliciously, taking advantage with a quick surge of dark energy, the magnitude and sheer power difference of which allowed it to swiftly overtake Raven's energy. Raven wasn't prepared for it and it nearly engulfed her before she turned her attention back to her likeness, redirecting her own energy inward to serve as a last-ditch shield. Strife's sudden energy attack met the bulk of the makeshift shield with a deafening crash, the outward force of the collision forcing Raven back several feet before she was able to regain balance in midair and center herself. Thanks to the shield, the surprise attack caused only minimal damage, as most of it dissipated in the collision.

"Still think you're strong enough?" Strife taunted, arms now loose at her sides as she stared Raven down. "So…you've seen his face. I imagine you must have some idea now…" Strife offered a quick nod toward Red X, indicating that she was talking about him.

Raven couldn't deny it. The pieces were beginning to come together. It was just as she'd feared…

"It doesn't matter. I won't let it happen." Raven shot back. "I removed Trigon from this plane. His corruption won't destroy this planet again."

Strife only laughed mockingly, placing her hands on her hips. "He may be gone…but I'm here, aren't I? Daddy's whereabouts aren't important. Don't you get it? We are connected. I with you, he with me. Did you think everything was resolved when you finally got Anger under your control again?"

Raven shook her head slowly from side to side, tension beginning to show through. "But Anger wasn't--"

"Feh…Anger may have had some of his essence within her, but she lacked his true nature. I'm sure you know this to be true. This is why even she could not stand against me. 'But she wasn't truly evil,' right? That's what you were going to say. She refused to completely embrace his strength, just like you've refused him. When the time came, I simply showed her the extent of that which she chose to suppress. You may have noticed her strange…inactivity as of late."

Raven briefly thought back to her most recent encounter with Anger, as well as the rest of her emotions in Nevermore. Indeed, Strife spoke truthfully…none of her emotions could contend with Strife, perhaps not even when combined. It was almost as though Trigon had left a hidden ticking time bomb inside Raven's mind as his own special brand of insurance.

"Truly pathetic." Strife went on. "She was a weakling. The rest of them were little more than target practice."

Strife's intense gaze pierced deep into the windows of Raven's soul, unwavering, and although Raven returned it, her own eyes shining a brilliant white, she began to wonder if she indeed would be able to prevent Strife's grim prophecy. Even with the help of the other Titans…

"Hm…no use attempting to conceal it anymore. I see it in your eyes." Strife said with a smirk. "You know precisely what this means… 'the end of all things mortal'. As Trigon willed it…"

"…So this is what you choose, Strife?" Raven interjected. "To follow in his footsteps, on his path of destruction?"

Strife chuckled. "Why not? At the very least, it'll be fun reducing this planet to ash."

Strife took a moment to glance downward, at all the cars in traffic and people walking the streets of Jump City so far below. Her smirk took on a mischievous tinge as she nonchalantly waved her hand downward, to an arbitrary group of people.

"So many people…" Strife said, almost wistfully. "…How easy it would be to erase them. Shall I?"

"No…" Raven protested, as her eyes returned to normal, expression worried, yet still defiant.

"Hear me now, child of Azarath…" Strife commanded, suddenly returning her gaze to Raven as she raised an open palm pointed at her, head arrogantly cocked slightly to one side. "Trigon will not be denied. This world will perish, as will you. Whether you accept it or not."

"**I WON'T LET YOU!**" Raven screamed as her eyes flashed white again, a momentous spark of rage such as this rare for her. Thrusting both arms forward, palms open and fingers outstretched, Raven unleashed an angry torrent of dark energy, immensely powerful, yet unfocused since she hadn't spoken her mantra first.

Strife smirked as it approached, spreading her arms outward to form an energy shield before her. She didn't even need the mantra since it was such a simple matter to deflect Raven's hastily thrown attack. As she dispersed the shield, Strife suddenly dashed forward, straight for Raven, both hands charged with black energy. Raven took on a defensive position, quickly charging her own hands as well in anticipation of the coming clash.

Down below, the other Titans were still coming to grips with Red X. Still held fast by Robin and Beast Boy, the thief chuckled, seemingly unfazed by the fact that Robin now held the skull mask.

"Aw man…" Beast Boy whined, his head back to human form, but his body still coiled tightly around Red X's legs as an octopus. "…first Raven, and now…"

Red X's facial features were identical to Robin's, except for pale, grayish skin, dark gray hair, and red eyes. In fact, Red X still wore the same mask over his eyes that Robin did.

"_I just KNEW there was a reason why they sounded alike…this proves it!_"

"Surprised?" Red X jabbed. He was clearly enjoying every moment of this.

"I don't believe it…" Robin repeated, almost as if doing so would cause Red X to disappear. The fury inside him quickly reaching its boiling point, Robin nearly snapped, releasing the bo staff which restricted Red X's arm movement in order to lunge for Red X's throat with both hands. "**WHO ARE YOU?**" Robin shouted, as he attempted to strangle the life out of Red X.

All the while, Red X maintained his trademark cool, content in the fact that he'd tricked Robin once again, this time by provoking him into releasing the hold just long enough for X to make his move. Before, he thought he'd be able to do it when Robin used one hand to remove the mask, but with Robin's other hand still holding him down at the same time, he still couldn't break the hold. But now, finally with enough leeway to operate, Red X endured Robin's strangle as he aimed both palms upward, past Robin and Beast Boy, aiming a stream of shuriken Xs Starfire's way.

"Get down!" Cyborg cried, and with a small 'Eep', Starfire did so, ducking for cover as shuriken Xs whizzed past her, some of them clinking against the brick wall separating the tiers. Cyborg did likewise, both hands clasped over his head for protection.

"You…" Robin angrily muttered, swiftly turning his head back after realizing what Red X was doing. That was all Red X needed. The brief lapse in attention allowed Red X to pop both forearms upward, smacking the blunt end of the bo staff against the side of Robin's face. Wasting no time, Red X followed up with a swift right punch that sent Robin rolling off him. By the time Beast Boy figured out what Red X was up to, it was already too late.

With his entire upper body free, Red X sat up, and although Beast Boy tried to retaliate, two lightning-fast punches later, Beast Boy found himself lying on the ground, reverted back to human form, right next to Robin. Red X flipped back up to his feet, wrist blades extracted as he took on a fighting stance.

"…I'm Red X." the thief coolly answered, referring to Robin's earlier outburst.

In the night sky above, Raven and Strife were engaged in a heated duel. Things seemed to be pretty even, but Raven was gradually getting winded, when Strife showed no apparent signs of slowing down. As they circled each other in midair, Raven dodged a string of attacks from Strife, ducking around fierce punches and kicks, waiting for the right moment to strike back. She found it after blocking a high kick with her forearm.

Brushing the kick aside, Raven pressed forward, placing a palm to Strife's midsection. An instant later, she charged a pulse of dark energy into it, which sent Strife hurtling backwards. After the successful counter, Raven held her position, wary of any sudden offensive from Strife. Strife regained her balance, eyes still focused on Raven.

"Not bad…" Strife said with a grin. "…but not good enough!" At those words, she burst forward again, giving Raven almost no time to think as she rapidly closed the distance between them. Raven fired off a few warning shots, but Strife effortlessly swatted them away, and a few seconds later, was upon Raven again with another flurry of attacks.

Raven dodged some and countered others, but she couldn't help but notice that her reaction time wasn't what it should've been. It wasn't long before more of Strife's moves found their mark. After Raven swayed around two jabs from Strife, she attempted a high elbow strike aimed for Strife's chest, but Strife expertly caught the elbow in one hand, throwing it upward to force open Raven's guard. Strife took this moment of opportunity to unleash a forceful roundhouse kick. Raven had just barely enough time to duck under it, but was caught off-guard when Strife delivered a surprise knee to Raven's exposed chin, forcing her to stretch upward again as her entire body was lifted a few inches higher by the force of the knee.

With a menacing chuckle, Strife sank an energy charged fist into Raven's stomach. Raven let out a pained gasp, widened eyes returning to normal yet again as the surprisingly vicious punch literally took her breath away. It seemed Strife had a nasty habit of suddenly unleashing wildly powerful attacks without warning in order to unbalance things in her favor.

Back on the rooftop, Starfire and Cyborg found themselves in a tense situation, with battles taking place on both sides of them. Down on the lower tier of the rooftop, Robin and Beast Boy struggled against Red X, while Raven fought with Strife in the sky.

"I'm getting' ready to jump back in down there…" Cyborg said, as he made every attempt to optimize his systems before rejoining the fight. Starfire watched him with a look of worry. The sound of blows landing, accompanied by agonized grunts from Raven could be heard above them. "…but you might wanna go lend Rae a hand. She ain't lookin' so hot at the moment."

Starfire looked up to see Strife, who had Raven held up at the throat with one hand, sadistic smile on her face. Raven's eyes were closed, her hands clasped around Strife's arm in a feeble attempt to release the grip. Strife began charging her free hand with energy, intent on delivering the finishing strike. The sight of her friend in immediate danger was all it took for Starfire to blast upward, eyes and hands glowing green as she closed in on the enemy.

Strife could sense the approaching Tamaranian, deciding to take the charged energy intended for Raven and instead fire it down at Starfire before she could get close. Unyielding, Starfire fired her own Starbolts to nullify the attack. She then flew straight through the resulting explosion, facial expression intense, filled with Tamaranian fury.

"You will release Raven!" Starfire shouted, aiming a punch for Strife's face just as she reached her. Strife caught it with her free hand.

"As you wish." Strife coldly replied.

Another moment to relish Starfire's puzzled expression, and then Strife did as she was commanded, allowing Raven's limp body to drift from her grasp before beginning its descent to the rooftop below. With a gasp, Starfire ripped her fist free from Strife before dashing after the falling Raven. Strife simply allowed Starfire to break free, and watched with some amusement, arms folded, as Starfire took off to rescue Raven.

Starfire managed to catch Raven only a short distance before they would've hit the rooftop.

"Raven…" Starfire began, clearly worried for her friend's well-being. "…please, open your eyes…"

A few moments later, Raven did so, to which Starfire offered a bright smile.

"Starfire, behind you!" Raven suddenly exclaimed, but too late, as Starfire was nailed square in the back by a blast of dark energy before she could even turn to see what Raven was talking about. With an anguished scream, Starfire dropped Raven before hurtling forward, crashing into the rooftop. Raven regained her own composure, looking in the direction the blast had come from to see Strife above, still with her palm stretched out from her attack on the unaware Starfire. As Starfire struggled back to her feet, Raven hovered over to her side, the two of them floating back up to meet Strife, who had nosedived and was swooping in on them.

By this time, Robin had recovered his bo staff, and used it to ward off Red X's wrist blades. He could hear the commotion on the other part of the roof, especially Starfire's earlier scream which diverted his attention for the briefest of moments. This proved costly, however, since by the time Robin heard Beast Boy's "Watch out!", Red X had already slammed the heel of his foot into Robin's jaw. He hit the floor hard, rolling along a few feet more until coming to a stop close to the middle of the rooftop.

"Jeez kid, you got it **bad**. It's painfully obvious, you know. That's twice in the same fight. Maybe you should worry more about yourself."

Meanwhile, Beast Boy had assumed the form of a goat, and charged at Red X from his blindside in order to prevent him from pursuing Robin. However, Red X easily noticed this, and swiftly turned to face the incoming Beast Boy, both hands taking hold of goat Beast Boy's horns once he was close enough. In one smooth motion, Red X used the horns as leverage and hopped over goat Beast Boy's head, flipping in air to deliver a punishing kick with both feet to the changeling's backside. This kick sent Beast Boy flying forward to the edge of the rooftop, Red X using the extra momentum to vault himself toward Robin's position. But before Red X could reach Robin, Cyborg jumped down from the higher part of the rooftop, landing between Red X and his target. Without wasting a moment, Cyborg pointed the business end of the Sonic Cannon at the thief.

"I don't think so." Cyborg said defiantly, before firing a stream of blue and white Red X's way.

Red X had to nearly bend over backwards, contorting his frame into an awkward position in order to just barely dodge the blast. It still grazed him as it went by though, and he could feel the intense heat of it against the suit. A sudden wail from Beast Boy came a second later.

"Dude! You almost hit ME!" As it turns out, Beast Boy was standing behind Red X at the time, so he was in the direct line of fire. A quick morph into a turtle and back saved him, though.

Red X however, did not hesitate, launching himself at Cyborg with both wrist blades extended. Cyborg brought up the Sonic Cannon arm to block Red X's slashes, aiming a punch with his other arm as soon as he got the chance. Red X dodged it by ducking low, but a low-pitched growl coming from behind him alerted him that tiger Beast Boy was closing in fast. Red X looked back to see the green cat's razor-sharp teeth and claws just a foot or so from his face. Fortunately for him, he was prepared, and had activated the teleportation mechanism on the suit just in time to reposition himself farther away along the side of the rooftop. It cost quite a bit of Xenothium, but Red X figured he could pick up the slack, especially with Strife around.

Unfortunately for Cyborg, however, tiger Beast Boy couldn't stop his own forward momentum in time, and plowed right into his best friend. After the collision, Beast Boy detransformed, with a meek chuckle and a half-smile on his face.

"Heh heh…well, I guess that makes us even."

"Even? My shot **missed** you, and you **hit** me. How is that even? You're lucky your claws didn't scratch up my armor or I'd--"

Cyborg's tirade was interrupted by a battlecry from Robin, who'd since gotten back to his feet and engaged Red X yet again. Beast Boy took the opportunity to dash off toward the two, saving himself from Cyborg's wrath for the time being. Whether or not he would repeat his earlier mistake remained to be seen. Before rejoining, Cyborg took a few moments to watch Red X and Robin fight.

"_Wow…he fights just like Robin did when it actually **was** him in the suit…_" Cyborg thought as he watched the two clash weapons. "_…And that Black-cloak Raven up there…what's going on here?_"

At the moment, "that Black-cloak Raven" was giving Starfire and Raven quite a workout.

"_She's just an emotion…she's not invincible…_" Raven thought as she watched Starfire fling Starbolts at the malevolent Strife. Of course, Strife simply batted them away amusedly. With a quick chant of the mantra, Raven ripped up a few pieces of steel and brick from the rooftop, and they hovered about her as she prepared to launch them at Strife. "_…If I can just manage to get one, good hit…_"

Strife seemed to be growing bored of deflecting Starfire's attacks, so she prepared to dash in to melee range. Raven sent the objects hurtling Strife's way, but with a wave of the palm, a shield sprang up which deflected them away. Strife glared at Raven, however the low, dull roar of an engine nearby gave her a sadistic idea. Raven knew as soon as she heard the jet engine what Strife was planning to do.

"Watch closely, child of Azarath. I will show you how to properly use that power."

"Don't do it…" Raven warned, teeth tensely grit.

Strife cackled, raising a palm toward the jet plane flying by overhead.

"Try and stop me." Came her reply.

Starfire caught on too, and flung even more Starbolts at Strife in an attempt to prevent her, but to no avail as Strife simply formed a small shield with one hand to block Starfire's attacks.

"Oooh, look at all the pretty green fireworks over there!" a small girl exclaimed from her window seat on the plane.

"Cool!" her older brother, sitting next to her said as he looked out the window as well. "But they look a little weird…"

"I wonder what they're celebrating…" the children's mother said, sitting in the seat closest to the aisle.

A moment later, black energy enveloped the jet, jerking it from its normal flight path. The young girl screamed at the sudden erratic motion of the plane.

"Calm down, it's ok." The mother said reassuringly. "That's only turbulence. It's perfectly normal."

"But the window just got so dark…" the girl said, worry seeping up into her voice.

"Well, it is nighttime, honey…" the mother went on, trying to calm her daughter, since it was her first flight. "We're probably just flying through some dark clouds. Everything is ok, you'll see."

"Yeah, quit bein' such a crybaby!" the girl's older brother taunted.

Strife stopped the plane entirely, held it still in midair for a few seconds, then hurled it downward.

Naturally, hysteria soon broke out on the plane.

"Mama, I'm scared!" The young girl screamed again. She squirmed in her seat, pressing herself as far down into it as she could.

"It's ok, baby, it's ok." The mother repeated, though now it seemed she was trying to calm herself just as much as her 8 year-old daughter. The woman's hands were clasped tightly on the armrests, and the pace of her breathing quickened. "Just keep your seat belt on, ok baby?"

Thinking quickly, Raven extended her own energy to the plane, attempting to wrest it from Strife's clutches. This, coupled with irregular changes in velocity caused considerably violent shaking on the plane.

"Passengers, this is your captain speaking. Please remain calm and ensure that your seat belts are securely fastened. We repeat, please remain calm…"

"What the--" the young girl's brother began.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" a random passenger screamed from the rear of the plane.

Raven struggled to halt the plane's descent, but Strife's grip proved too strong. As things stood, it was only a matter of time before the plane would slam into the city below with a fiery crash. Starfire realized this, and was left with a choice. She could either leave Strife and attempt to add her strength to Raven's in order to stop the plane, or she could fully engage Strife, which would hopefully allow Raven to save the aircraft. Given Strife's unpredictability and the unknown capacity of her strength, perhaps it would be better for the people on the plane if Strife's attention were elsewhere.

"_I shall entrust their lives to you, Friend Raven…_" Starfire thought as she dashed straight for Strife.

"Why do you want to save them so badly?" Strife mocked. "My way is much more fun!"

"Your way is **wrong**, Strife." Raven said calmly. "These people don't deserve this fate."

A moment later, a Starbolt rammed into Strife's back, throwing off her concentration and weakening her grip on the plane. She looked back to see Starfire already upon her, eyes angrily glowing green. A moment later and Starfire's fist found its way to Strife's jaw with explosive impact, sending Strife sailing for several feet. With that, Strife's grip on the plane was released entirely, and Raven hurriedly took control to stop the plane's rapid descent, while looking for a safe place to set it down. The airport was a few miles away, but there was a clearing in a nearby mall parking lot just big enough to fit the plane.

"Imbecile!" Strife shouted, bursting back toward Starfire. Starfire aimed another punch in retaliation, but Strife wouldn't allow it a second time. She caught Starfire's arm at the wrist, using her other arm to ram her own fist into Starfire's nose. However, since Strife held her wrist tightly, Starfire wasn't allowed to go hurtling away as Strife did only moments earlier. Instead she was given only a violent recoil as her body attempted to absorb the shock. Strife punched again, but Starfire was quick to regain her composure, and caught Strife's punch at the wrist just as Strife now held hers. The two were locked in a temporary stalemate.

"Why…." Starfire inquired. "…why do you wish to harm others?"

"It's my nature." Strife responded.

In the meantime, Raven managed to set the plane down safely. "_Thank you, Starfire…_" Raven thought.

"We…we landed?" The little girl on the plane asked, as she finally mustered the courage to open her eyes again.

"We're alive?" The girl's brother said, incredulous. "And we're at the mall? Awesome!"

"Yeah…" said the mother, having a hard time believing it herself. "…We made it…_somehow._ I told you everything would be ok."

Back on the rooftop, Robin led the attack against Red X. Though Robin swung the staff with expert precision, Red X blocked and parried all of his attacks with an equal degree of expertise. In the meantime, Cyborg took aim at Red X from afar with the Sonic Cannon.

"Make sure you don't hit US!" Beast Boy called back before taking to the air as a falcon.

"I won't." Cyborg said simply as he fired the cannon. The way the blast was aimed, however, Robin would need to move in order to avoid getting hurt. Cyborg just assumed Robin would realize that and get out of the way in time. He did, and since Red X's back was to Cyborg's blast, he instinctively rolled sideways as soon as he saw Robin move. The blast cleared both of them, traveling onward until it flew clear down the block to collide with the wall of a different building.

"Cyborg, be more careful!" Robin exclaimed as he lunged for Red X again.

"Oops, my bad…"

"Hey kid, ready to call it quits yet?" Red X asked, as he and Robin clashed weapons again, Cyborg and Beast Boy nearby. Upon hearing the question, Robin was instantly reminded of his countless training sessions against the Red X Simulator back at the Tower. But this definitely **wasn't** a simulation…

"Not by a longshot." Robin replied.

Meanwhile, Starfire and Strife broke their stalemate, and now floated some yards away from each other. But, Strife had charged up energy, and suddenly blasted forward, straight for Starfire, sadistic smirk intact. But Strife's facial expression soon changed.

"What is this…?"

"Starfire, NOW!" Raven shouted, as she flew up to Starfire's side. They had been biding their time, covertly charging their own energies as they waited for the opportune moment.

"Azarath, Metrion, **Zinthos!**"

On Raven's command, they simultaneously released all their pent-up energy in two powerful blasts, the green and the black swirling together to combine their strength. Raven's mantra served to focus the blasts, further enhancing their potency once they combined.

"You think you can stop me?" Strife yelled. She did not relent in the face of the oncoming attack, but increased her speed, crossing her arms in front of her to form an aura shield as she hit the attack head-on.

"Don't hold back, Starfire!" Raven called, as she poured even more energy into the attack. "_Strife hasn't said the mantra yet…is she that confident?_"

"I will not." Starfire assured, as she did likewise. The dueling sides eventually reached critical mass, and in a thunderous explosion of energy and force, the three were thrown in opposite directions, Starfire and Raven going one way, Strife going the other.

When the smoke cleared, Raven scanned the area, but Strife was nowhere in sight.

"We are…victorious?" Starfire asked, hopeful.

"I'm not sure…" came Raven's pensive reply. Raven tried to sense Strife…the air was definitely different, but she couldn't pinpoint it. She looked down toward the boys, who were still fighting with Red X. Then, her eyes widened when she saw a familiar black cloud form itself near Red X.

"She's down there! Starfire, hurry!"

"You certainly put up a good fight…" Strife began, as her four red eyes became barely visible through the dark cloud. "really fun…and as much as I'd love to continue, I'm afraid I have to postpone the second half of our playdate."

In all his fury, however, Robin didn't listen, and angrily swung the staff at both of them. Strife reached an arm out from the cloud, taking hold of Red X and pulling him back into the cloud, causing Robin's attack to whiff entirely until it cracked into the floor of the rooftop. With Red X safely inside, the black cloud rose into the night sky, and all five Titans watched it. Robin's grip on the bo staff tightened, and his teeth clenched as he seethed with rage.

"Sorry to cut it short, kid…" Red X said nonchalantly. "…see you next time."

"NO!" Robin yelled. "YOU WON'T GET AWAY FROM ME!"

"Robin…" Starfire watched him with concern.

Not willing to give up, Robin bounded upward, flinging explosive discs at the cloud. Of course, they passed straight through, exploding harmlessly in the sky. Almost within reach now, Robin took one last swing upward with the staff. However, the cloud rapidly shrank in size, vanishing into thin air just before Robin's staff would've connected.

After landing back on the rooftop, Robin took a knee, slamming down his bo staff in order to vent some of his anger. The other Titans stood speechless for a few moments, but Starfire was the first to approach him.

"It is alright, Robin…" Starfire said, reaching down to gently place a hand on his shoulder. "Truly, the--"

"No, Starfire…" Robin mumbled dejectedly as he looked off to the side. Red X's skull mask was still lying there on the floor, looking up at him. "…it's not alright. He got away **again**. They could be anywhere. You saw what they were capable of. And they weren't even serious. I can't relax until I find out what's really going on, especially now."

"Yeah, with all these kooky doppelgangers running around..." Beast Boy chimed in. "It's like something straight outta the movies!"

"Somethin' tells me it's a lot bigger than you might think…" Cyborg mused, as he glanced in Raven's direction.

"You're right." Raven affirmed, as she turned away, looking instead along the Jump City skyline. "I'm still seeking answers myself."

"_They were both so powerful…_" Raven thought to herself."_Especially Strife. Why couldn't I sense Red X's secret before? And Strife…if she really wanted to, she could've easily just detonated that jet on the spot, right there in the sky…_"

----------

Author's Note: What the…? Red X is Robin? But Robin is Robin! And why does he have such pale skin, and red eyes? Just like Strife! Speaking of Strife, it seems she's revealed at least some part of the truth. As Trigon's final trump card, she's already proven that Daddy hates losing! But why did she and X decide to break things off so quickly, just when we were getting into full swing? They certainly weren't at any sort of a disadvantage…and what of Slade, the guy who always operates from behind the scenes? It most assuredly seems as though he's got_ something_ to do with all this…


End file.
